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BOY  LIFE  AND  SELF-GOVERNMENT 


..-" 


BOY  LIFE 


AND 


Self-Government 


GEORGE  WALTER  FISKE 

Professor  of  Practical  Theology  in  Oberlin  Theological 
Seminary,  Oberlin  College,  Ohio 


New   York:    124   East   28th   Street 
London:   47  Paternoster  Row,  E.  C. 

1912 

R7036 


COPVRKIIIT,  1910,  BY  TriE 

International  Committee  of  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations 


Ha 


TO  THE  OTHER  BOY 

IN  MY  OLD  NEW  ENGLAND  HOME 

MY  BROTHER 


CONTENTS 

I.  Jimmie,  James  and  Jim:  a  Diagnosis         .       11 

II.  A  Gymnasium  for  Citizenship  ...       21 

III.  Boy  Life  and  the  Race  Life      ...       41 

IV.  The  Boy  and  his  Instincts         ...       69 
V.  The  Struggle  for  Manliness       ...       87 

VI.  Boy-made  Societies           ....     107 

VII.  Rudimentary  Society  Among  Boys  .          .119 

VIII.  The  Epochs  of  Boyhood  and  Youth  .          .147 

IX.  Group  Clubs  and  Mass  Clubs  for  Boys       .      169 

X.  The  Association's  Work  with  Boys  .          .      193 

XI.  Progressive  Self-Government  Among, Boys    205 

XII.  Some  By-Laws  of  Boy  Leadership    .          .     221 

XIII.  The  Boy's  Rehgion  .          .          .          .241 

XIV.  The  Boy's  Home 277 


FOREWORD 

The  best  excuse  for  this  book  is  probably 
the  fact  that  its  pubHcation  is  requested  by 
the  International  Committee  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations.  It  is  given  to 
the  press,  not  as  the  last  word  on  the  boy 
problem,  but  simply  to  add  another  hand- 
book to  the  working  library  of  boy  lovers 
and  boy  leaders,  with  such  suggestiveness  as 
it  may  offer  them  for  their  own  better  coun- 
sel. 

In  its  original  form  the  manuscript  was 
prepared  as  a  course  of  lectures  on  the 
assigned  subject  ^^The  Principles  of  Self- 
Government  Among  Older  Boys.^'  These 
lectures  were  given  in  August,  1909,  at  the 
annual  Y.  M.  C.  A,  Institute  at  Silver  Bay, 
Lake  George,  New  York,  before  the  advanced 
Boys'  Work  and  County  Work  Secretaries. 
The  closing  chapters  on  The  Boy^s  Religion 
and  The  Boy's  Home  have  been  added  at 
the  request  of  the  International  Committee. 
Acknowledgments  are  due  the  Sunday  School 
Times  Co.  for  permission  to  republish  here 
from  their  book,  "Building  Boyhood,"   the 


10  BOY  LIFE 

author's  chapter  on  The  Boy's  Normal  Home 
Relationships. 

But  books  are  usually  born,  not  made. 
They  grow  naturally  with  the  slow  process 
of  the  years.  Perhaps  this  little  book  finds 
its  genesis  back  in  a  certain  old  New  Eng- 
land town  where  the  same  grand  old  elms 
shade  the  same  crooked  streets  where  thirty 
years  ago  the  writer  was  the  proud  marshal 
of  a  troup  of  some  fourscore  small  boys,  who 
in  keen  imagination  "fought,  bled  and  died" 
as  youthful  patriots  in  the  strenuous  cam- 
paign for  the  everlasting  glory  of  Garfield 
and  Arthur !  In  all  the  years  since,  he  has 
been  a  lover  of  boys  and  an  interested  stu- 
dent of  boy  politics.  Believing  that  much 
of  the  perplexity  of  the  boy  problem  and 
the  difficulty  of  boy  management  in  church, 
club,  home  or  school  can  be  relieved  by  frank- 
ness and  tactfulness  in  trusting  the  boys  and 
developing  their  manliness  through  respon- 
sibility and  initiative,  he  is  glad  to  share 
these  studies  in  the  principles  of  progressive 
self-government  in  boy  life. 


L.HAPTER  I 

JIMMIE,   JAMES   AND   JIM:   A   DIAGNOSIS 

There  is  no  predigested  way  of  making  a 
man  out  of  a  boy.  Formulas  are  delusive. 
Prescriptions  fail.  The  fact  is,  boys  are 
not  run  in  a  mold.  They  grow,  and  you 
may  be  reasonably  sure  that  the  process  is 
a  struggle.  Sometimes  it  is  a  struggle  be- 
tween the  boy  and  his  teachers,  often  with 
his  parents ;  but  always  a  struggle  between 
the  boy  and  himself. 

The  passive,  sleepy  boy,  who  never  wakes 
up  till  his  middle  teens,  is  apparently  an 
exception ;  but  usually  the  active,  natural 
boy  of  eight  to  fourteen  summers,  in  a  civil- 
ized community,  is  living  a  double  life.  He 
is  practically  two  boys  under  the  same  hat. 
He  lives  his  life  on  two  distinct  planes,  which 
are  more  or  less  incongruous.  His  poUte 
life  is  controlled  largely  by  civilized  sanc- 
tions, especially  within  his  home.  He  eats 
with  his  fork  at  the  family  table,  wears  cuffs 
and  perhaps  even  gloves  in  the  family  pew, 
if  he  sits  there  at  all.  Externally  he  may 
be  the  pink  of  propriety,  the  acme  of  civil- 


12  BOY  LIFE 

ized  progress,  the  flower  of  silk-stocking 
culture !  This  is  the  side  he  keeps  trained 
toward  his  unsuspecting  mother  and  his  pious 
aunt.  For  all  civilized  functions,  this  is  the 
nice  little  man,  James. 

But  for  a  certain  period,  the  root  of  the 
matter  is  not  this  manikin,  but  Jimmie,  the 
rollicking  savage  within,  the  boy  as  the  gang 
knows  him,  not  as  his  fond  mother  imagines 
him ;  unless  she  be  a  modern  mother  with 
Sherlock  Holmes  perceptions.  It  is  hardly 
fair  to  James  to  say  that  the  real  boy  is 
Jimmie  and  the  artificial  boy  James.  Both 
boys  are  real;  only  one  is  more  so.  Neither 
is  it  fair  to  Jimmie  to  call  him  the  by-product 
in  the  civilizing  process  of  producing  James ; 
nor  merely  the  raw  material.  The  boy  him- 
self, if  consulted,  would  probably  allow  that 
he  was  really  Jimmie,  though  his  maiden 
name  was  James.  Let  us  rather  find  the 
truth  in  the  strange  duality  of  boyhood. 
Every  natural  boy  is,  more  or  less  clearly, 
two  boys,  both  James  and  Jimmie;  the  prim 
little  pink-and-washed  Puritan,  and  the 
saucy  little  rough-and-tumble  heathen, 
struggling  together  for  the  mastery  for 
several  busy  years.  If  the  good  angels  are 
propitious,  and  the  father  of  the  twins  has 


JIMMIE,  JAMES  AND  JIM  13 

good  luck,  the  resultant,  emerging  from  this 
seething  retort,  will  be  neither  James,  the 
Pale  Face,  nor  Jimmie,  the  Mohawk  Brave, 
but  Jim,  a  manly  boyish  fellow,  frank  of  face 
and  sound  at  heart. 

Meanwhile  let  us  not  be  too  fearful  for 
James.  Jimmie  probably  won't  hurt  him; 
he'll  do  him  good!  Were  it  not  for  Jimmie, 
Jim  might  never  be.  In  that  event  the  "nice 
little  man  James"  would  just  become  a  color- 
less, weazened-up,  highly  proper  and  harm- 
less person  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  At  least 
he  would  never  set  the  world  afire,  for  he 
hasn't  got  the  brimstone.  Nor  let  us  tremble, 
lest,  after  the  smoke  of  the  conflict  clears, 
only  the  young  barbarian  is  left.  The  dan- 
ger is  much  less  than  we  think,  for  James 
has  a  good  effect  on  Jimmie  meanwhile.  He 
tones  him  down,  and  clips  his  claws,  and 
sometimes  rings  his  conscience  on  him !  And 
besides,  Jimmie  has  a  mother.  Let  us  have 
patience  with  Jimmie,  have  due  respect  for 
James,  have  faith  in  God;  and  Jim,  in  due 
time,  will  win  out. 

Right  here  is  the  storm  center  of  the  boy 
problem.  Find  here  the  key  to  that  strange 
fickleness  of  boy  life  which  makes  many  a 
boy  the  despair  of  his  mother  and  of  all  who 


14  BOY  LIFE 

know  him — or  fancy  that  they  know  him. 
The  pecuHar  irresponsibiHty  of  Jimmie  is 
entirely  normal.  He  is  not  a  finished  prod- 
uct and  should  not  be  so  regarded.  He  has 
a  right  to  be  treated  as  a  growing  boy.  We 
are  apt  to  treat  him  as  a  microscopic  man. 
Boy  life  is  complex.  Boy  thoughts  are 
subtle  sometimes,  but  crudely  illogical.  Boy 
feelings  are  changeable,  fitful,  mercurial. 
Boyish  actions  often  seem  inconsistent  and 
baffling,  until  you  discover  that  the  incon- 
sistency is  due  to  this  fact  of  the  duality  of 
boyhood.  You  are  dealing  with  two  oppos- 
ing natures  rolled  up  into  one.  Utterly 
blind  to  Jimmie,  his  mother  grieves  sorely 
because  she  "simply  cannot  understand 
James."  Neither  does  his  busy  father.  So 
James  suffers  many  a  whipping  on  Jimmie's 
account;  though  this  contributes  nothing  to 
the  peace  and  good-will  of  the  household. 

The  fact  is,  young  Jimmie  for  a  few  years 
is  a  good  deal  of  a  savage.  Do  not  blame 
him.  He  cannot  help  it,  for  he  has  many 
generations  of  savage  and  barbarous  ances- 
tors back  of  him ;  so  it  takes  time  for  James 
to  civilize  him.  James  will  sometimes  need 
help ;  and  sometimes  not.  If  the  family 
interfere  too  often  in  the  process,  you  get 


JIMMIE,  JAMES  AND  JIM  15 

a  forced  evolution  rather  than  a  natural 
growth  into  manliness. 

The  boy  problem  then  is  really  The  Mak- 
ing of  Jim;  developing  a  kingly  young  man, 
a  manly,  Christian  citizen,  out  of  the  irre- 
pressible and  irresponsible  boy.  To  do  this, 
we  must  first  let  Jimmie  have  his  fling — with 
no  "wild  oats,"  but  all  innocent,  rollicking 
fun.  Let  him  be  the  boy  savage  and  bar- 
barian if  need  be,  when  Nature  seems  to  indi- 
cate it;  and  then  be  done  with  it,  and  give 
Jim,  the  white  man,  a  chance.  Do  not  regret 
these  turbulent  years,  for  remember  that 
where  there  is  no  Jimmie,  the  boy  is  apt  to 
be  nothing  but  James,  the  puny  Pale  Face. 
Jim,  the  good  Old  Scout,  is  far  better,  and 
he  owes  a  great  deal  to  Jimmie. 

It  will  be  important  to  consider  later  the 
question.  What  if  Jim  comes  too  soon.?  This 
is  the  tragedy  of  precocious  little-manhood. 
It  is  a  great  misfortune,  for  the  boy  and  for 
the  race,  thus  to  cheat  Jimmie.  Let  him  be 
protected  in  his  boyish  rights.  This  is  pre- 
cisely what  our  child-labor  committees  and 
children's  aid  societies  and  juvenile  courts 
are  doing,  jealously  protecting  and  prolong- 
ing normal  boyhood,  and  retarding  manhood. 

Equally  serious  is  the  question.  What  if 


16  BOY  LIFE 

Jimmie  hangs  on  too  long  and  our  manly 
Jim  fails  to  appear  when  due?  How  can 
we  hasten  delayed  adolescence?  How  can 
we  develop  manliness  in  a  rollicking,  ne'er- 
do-weel  of  an  overgrown,  chronic  boy,  who 
persists  in  playing  Jimmie,  long  after  the 
clock  has  struck  for  Jim?  Here  we  find 
comedy  turning  to  tragedy.  Too  often  we 
find  the  boy  who  is  suffering  from  too  much 
Jimmie,  his  real  manliness  delayed  by  a  per- 
sistence of  the  barbarian  spirit,  the  horse- 
play, the  laziness,  uncouthness,  awkwardness 
and  general  lack  of  purpose  of  belated  boy- 
hood. Perverts  of  these  two  abnormal  types 
form  our  "hoohgan"  and  "hoodlum"  ele- 
ments respectively.  The  former  is  a  pre- 
mature man.  The  latter  is  a  boy  barbarian 
in  arrested  development,  lacking  in  manli- 
ness. 

These  two  questions  involved  in  The  Mak- 
ing of  Jim  are  not  inconsistent.  Let  child- 
hood and  boyhood  be  prolonged.  Let  man- 
hood be  postponed.  But  let  manliness  be 
promptly  developed.  Notice  the  vital  dis- 
tinction between  the  terms.  Manhood  should 
not  come  until  Nature  rings  the  bell;  if  it 
delays  until  sixteen,  all  the  better.  Civic 
manhood  will  not  come  till  twenty-one,  and 


JIMMIE,  JAMES  AND  JIM  17 

adolescence  normally  persists  till  twenty-five. 
But  true  manliness  can  hardly  appear  too 
early.  To  be  sure  there  is  a  kind  of  mani- 
kin mannishness  which  attacks  mere  "kids" 
like  the  chicken-pox,  when  they  try  to  assume 
the  toga  virilis  by  way  of  the  first  cigaret, 
the  first  loud  bet,  the  first  quiet  gamble,  the 
first  dash  at  profanity  and  the  first  beer. 
But  if  Jimmie  is  sound  at  the  core,  he  will 
discover  ere  long  that  mere  mannishness  is 
only  fake  manliness,  and  he  will  quit  every 
sort  of  imitation  thing  which  fails  to  satisfy 
a  really  manly  Jim. 

The  manliness  which  consists  in  self-con- 
trol, a  trained  and  self-disciplined  will;  a 
right  heart  with  Jesus  Christ  enthroned 
within,  with  the  impulses  and  appetites  in 
leash;  a  sound  mind,  ruled  by  level  common- 
sense,  and  an  undercurrent  of  determined 
purpose  to  play  the  man  in  life,  to  put  his 
life  in  for  all  it  is  worth — this  sort  of  manli- 
ness rings  true,  and  often  sounds  its  clear 
note  of  chivalry,  nobility  and  Christian 
knightliness  in  rather  early  boyhood.  It  is 
a  good  note  to  hear.  We  welcome  it  and 
encourage  it.  Senator  Hoar  said  rightly, 
"That  is  the  best  country  where  the  boys  are 


18  BOY  LIFE 

manly  and  the  men  have  a  good  deal  of  the 
boy  in  them." 

Grown-up  Jim  will  be  more  kinds  of  a 
good  fellow  if  young  Jimmie  has  run  the 
whole  gamut  of  healthy  boy  life  with  all  its 
clean  fun ;  running  through  all  the  series  of 
race  cultures,  absorbing  the  best  of  them 
all,  and  perpetuating  in  his  enduring  habits 
the  noblest  instincts  the  past  has  given  him. 
And  the  young  man  Jim  should  ever  retain 
the  best  feelings  of  boyhood,  Jimmie's  zest 
for  life,  his  optimism,  his  joyousness,  his 
enthusiasm.  Dr.  Stanley  Hall  said  wisely, 
"The  real  fall  of  man  is  to  do  things  with- 
out zest."  To  grow  old  is  to  feel  old.  Need- 
lessly to  lose  the  best  feelings  of  youth  is 
the  great  sin  of  maturity. 

With  great  patience  with  Jimmie's  short- 
comings, and  a  deep,  true  sympathy  with 
him,  if  we  are  men  with  memories,  let  us  con- 
sider together  his  big  life  problem,  how  to 
grow  Christian  manliness,  how  to  develop 
true  citizenship,  and  maybe  leadership, 
through  self-control  and  personal  initia- 
tive. These  are  not  new  questions ;  and 
they  are  not  easy  questions ;  but  they  are 
very  fascinating  questions,  both  because  of 
their  very  difficulty  and  because  of  the  vast 


JIMMIE,  JAMES  AND  JIM  19 

issues  at  stake.  To  be  sure,  Jimmie's  spin- 
ster auntie  says  it's  all  impossible  from  the 
start,  for  he  is  bound  to  go  to  the  bad  any- 
way !  But  you  and  I  have  faith  in  the  whole 
boy  family,  Jimmie,  James  and  Jim — espe- 
cially Jim. 


CHAPTER  II 

A   GYMNASIUM   FOR   CITIZENSHIP 

The  sorting  of  boys  is  uncertain  business 
at  best.  We  are  learning  to  let  them  clas- 
sify themselves — as  they  will  do  anyhow,  try 
as  you  may  to  sift  them.  They  have  a  won- 
derfully slippery  way  of  wriggling  through 
your  sieve.  We  all  know  the  precocious 
youngster  with  the  preternatural  wisdom,  the 
keen  wit  and  the  precipitate  will,  who  myste- 
riously bobs  up  in  an  older  "gang,"  or  a 
higher  class  in  school  or  church.  Let  him 
warn  us  that  we  must  always  expect  our  most 
beautiful  classification  of  boys  to  bow  humbly 
before  the  unaccountable  boy  who  is  older 
than  his  years  and  big  for  his  size. 

With  due  respect  for  this  type  of  boy,  and 
a  warning  to  keep  a  weather  eye  out  for  him, 
let  us  suggest  the  convenient  term,  the  teens, 
as  covering  fairly  well  the  range  of  our  study. 
As  we  shall  deal  especially  with  older  boys, 
it  might  be  better  to  subtract  a  year  at  each 
end  of  this  period ;  for  most  boys  at  thirteen 
are  "older  boys"  only  by  courtesy;  whereas 
it  is  almost  a  discourtesy,  and  surely  a  blun- 


22  BOY  LIFE 

der,  to  call  the  young  man  of  nineteen,  or 
even  eighteen,  any  kind  of  a  boy.  By  that 
time  his  chum's  most  affectionate  term  for 
him  is  probably  "old  man !"  However,  there 
are  youngsters  of  nineteen,  as  well  as  weaz- 
ened-up  wiseacres  of  barely  a  dozen  summers. 
The  natural  habitat  of  the  latter  is  the  slum, 
the  alley,  the  glass  factory  and  the  coal- 
breakers.  The  former  you  find  all  too  often 
at  the  opposite  social  pole,  in  the  homes  of 
the  pampered  rich.  Both  are  abnormal  and 
demand  special  consideration.  If  the  major 
premise  of  self-government  i«  the  develop- 
ment of  the  will,  the  obstructed-will  of  the 
pampered  rich  boy  needs  the  self-government 
gymnasium  far  more  than  the  precipitate 
will  of  the  self-reliant  street  boy.  The  lat- 
ter needs  rather  the  strong  hand  of  the  Big 
Brother  Movement. 

Making  due  allowance  for  extremes  and 
special  cases,  the  development  of  will  power 
and  personal  initiative  on  the  part  of  boys 
will  usually  be  accomplished,  if  ever,  in  the 
adolescent  period  between  childhood,  when 
control  is  external,  paternal,  and  manhood, 
when  control  must  be  internal,  self-control. 
This  intermediary  battle-ground,  where  the 
battle  royal  of  life  must  be  fought  out.  Is 


GYMNASIUM  FOR  CITIZENSHIP    23 

the  storm  and  stress  period  of  the  middle 
teens,  the  high  school  period  of  Jim's  middle 
adolescence.  Here  then  must  be  the  empha- 
sis of  our  study  of  boy  life  and  self-govern- 
ment; though  we  shall  find  it  necessary  to 
hark  back  rather  frequently  to  the  earlier 
days  of  Jiramie's  childhood,  to  discover  the 
reasons  for  much  that  puzzles  us  in  Jim ;  for 
no  one  can  thoroughly  understand  Jim,  with- 
out having  known  Jimmie. 

The  term  "self-government,"  as  applied  to 
boys'  club  work,  is  a  convenient  and  increas- 
ingly popular  term.  But  it  is  so  elastic  it 
seems  to  mean  various  things  to  the  different 
classes  of  people  who  use  it ;  about  anything, 
in  fact,  from  mere  parliamentary  gymnas- 
tics under  rigid  adult  oversight,  to  the  other 
extreme  of  rough-house  riot,  where  small  boys 
have  attained  the  premature  dignity  of  doing 
as  they  please.  Neither  of  these  is  self-gov- 
ernment. One  may  be  a  mild  but  subtle  form 
of  tyranny ;  the  other  is  anarchy.  Self-gov- 
ernment is  rational  democracy,  either  in  a 
republic  or  a  constitutional  monarchy.  Pro- 
gressive self-government  is  the  gradual  win- 
ning of  the  rights  of  democratic  citizenship, 
as  the  capacity  for  their  exercise  develops. 
Literally   of   course,   self-government   is   the 


24  BOY  LIFE 

government  of  and  by  a  self.  When  applied 
to  the  individual,  we  use  the  more  common 
s3'nonym,  self-control.  Figuratively,  the 
term  is  applied  to  any  social  body  which 
by  personification  can  be  conceived  as  pos- 
sessing a  self.  Then  the  term  connotes  a 
group  of  persons,  self-directing,  subject  to 
internal  not  external  control,  and  by  a  self- 
direction  shared  by  the  various  members  of 
the  group,  though  net  always  equally. 

Unfortunately  the  word  government  is  so 
exclusively  a  political  term,  it  is  hardly 
broad  enough  for  our  purpose,  though  usage 
compels  us  to  adopt  it.  It  has  the  usual 
inaccuracy  of  the  figure  synecdoche,  the  use 
of  the  part  for  the  whole.  Our  modern  life 
in  a  republic  is  full  of  self-directing  groups 
of  every  conceivable  name  and  serving  every 
namable  purpose.  The  trouble  with  the 
term  self-government,  in  connection  with 
boys  and  boys'  clubs,  is  the  fact  that  it 
focuses  our  attention  altogether  too  nar- 
rowly on  functions  of  politics.  It  really 
includes  broad  social  interests,  all  of  which 
deal  directly  with  character  making  and  will 
development.  This  narrowing  of  the  vision 
in  the  use  of  the  term  self-government  must 
be   guarded   against,    for   this   tendency   ex- 


GYMNASIUM  FOR  CITIZENSHIP    25 

plains  the  limitations  and  partial  failures 
of  the  average  self-government  plan  for  boys. 
It  is  too  much  a  matter  of  mere  politics,  and 
the  machinery  thereof.  The  most  enviable 
office  in  these  boy  states  is  often  that  of  the 
policeman,  and  his  excessive  dignity  and 
unwonted  activity  are  hardly  true  to  life. 
Doubtless  such  boy  states  tend  to  develop 
efficient  guardians  of  the  peace  and  shrewd 
practical  politicians ;  but  few  of  their  youth- 
ful members  will  ever  be  needed  to  serve  their 
country  in  these  particular  wa3^s.  It  is  pos- 
sible to  find  great  practical  usefulness  in 
the  boy-republic  and  boy-city  plans.  They 
have  elements  of  real  success  in  them.  But 
let  us  avoid  the  undue  emphasis  which  exalts 
too  highly  the  mere  governmental  activities 
in  boy  life,  which  in  adult  life  occupy  such 
a  minor  part  of  the  day's  work.  The  Ameri- 
can people  do  not  live  to  be  governed,  not 
even  to  be  self-governed;  nor  is  the  aim  of 
life  merely  to  escape  arrest !  We  are  com- 
pelled, however,  to  use  the  term  self-govern- 
ment in  this  connection,  for  it  is  now  too 
deeply  intrenched  in  practice  to  be  ignored. 
It  is  a  useful  enough  term,  of  course,  pro- 
vided we  bear  in  mind  its  limitations  and 
avoid  its  narrowing  tendency. 


26  BOY  LIFE 

It  is  important  to  notice  that  most  of  the 
self-directed  social  groups,  which  furnish 
both  the  complexity  and  the  active  useful- 
ness of  our  American  society,  have  a  mini- 
mum of  the  governmental  element.  In  fact, 
their  success  is  partly  due  to  their  being 
purely  voluntary  organizations,  in  which  no 
authority  but  moral  suasion  is  sufferable. 
They  are  brought  together  as  societies 
simply  because  of  the  social  gravitation  of 
their  members — a  force  even  more  subtle 
than  chemical  affinity — the  force  of  common 
purposes,  talents,  social  capacities  and 
ideals ;  and  the  members  may  resign  and 
retire  at  will.  This  last  factor  is  distinctly 
non-political.  No  citizen  of  any  govern- 
ment is  at  liberty  to  avoid  his  allegiance 
unless  he  leaves  the  country  and  is  natur- 
alized elsewhere. 

In  this  connection  Prof.  Colin  A.  Scott, 
in  his  "Social  Education,"  makes  a  clear 
distinction  which  is  just  as  true  in  its  appli- 
cation to  boj^s'  work  as  to  the  public  schools : 

"It  is  the  introduction  into  our  schools  of 
such  voluntary,  self-directed  purpose  groups, 
rather  than  the  functions  of  coercive  govern- 
ment, which  ma}'  be  expected  to  gratify  the 
social   instinct   of   the   children,   to   develop 


GYMNASIUM  FOR  CITIZENSHIP    27 

their  resourcefulness  and  initiative,  and  to 
fit  them  for  the  comphcated  Hfe  of  present- 
day  society.  It  is  in  this  direction  that  the 
school  may  show  itself  naturally  and  easily 
as  an  embryonic  social  organism,  manifest- 
ing its  own  laws  of  growth,  rather  than  as 
prematurely  molded  after  the  model  of  a 
not  too  perfect  adult  community."  ^ 

It  is  clear  that  our  treatment  of  this  sub- 
ject would  be  decidedly  narrow  and  inade- 
quate, if  we  should  confine  ourselves  simply 
to  self-government  schemes  for  boys.  The 
subject  must  include  that  complete  training 
in  self-control  and  initiative,  and  in  the  lead- 
ership of  self-directed  social  groups,  which 
is  needed  to  prepare  our  boys  for  full  citizen- 
ship in  the  republic  as  well  as  in  the  King- 
dom of  God.  Our  ideal  is  the  self-controlled, 
efficient  citizen,  with  personal  resources  fully 
developed,  and  with  such  powers  as  God  has 
given  him  well  trained  for  every  needed  ser- 
vice. This  involves  the  problem  of  personal 
and  social  adjustment  to  our  complex  mod- 
ern life,  an  adjustment  which  must  somehow 
find  its  beginning  and  its  training  in  the 
practice  years  of  adolescence.  It  involves 
far   more   than   leadership ;   it   includes   self- 


1  "Social  Education,"  p.  76. 


28  BOY  LIFE 

control,  comradeship,  lo^^al  obedience  and 
self-reliance  as  well;  but  the  crown  of  it  all, 
and  its  ultimate  aim,  for  the  efficient  life, 
the  chosen  life,  is  leadership.  Happy  is  he 
to  whom  is  intrusted  the  training  of  leaders. 
Most  teachers,  pastors  and  Association 
leaders  enjoy  a  measure  of  this  privilege. 
Thousands  of  the  future  leaders  in  American 
poUtics,  education,  religion,  in  social  and 
business  activities,  are  now  to  be  found  in 
the  ranks  of  our  Association  boys.  What 
shall  be  the  quality  of  that  future  leader- 
ship? 

The  importance  of  this  subject  of  ours 
will  be  readily  appreciated  if  we  reflect  for 
a  moment  on  the  pressing  need  of  well-trained 
leaders  in  our  country.  The  cost  of  poor 
leadership  has  proved  to  be  a  heavy  tax  upon 
the  people.  A  competent  judge  declares: 
"At  present  our  American  society  is  suffer- 
ing more  from  the  lack  of  true  leadersliip, 
and  the  kind  of  insight  and  morality  neces- 
sary for  such  a  function,  than  from  any 
other  fault.  The  leader  is  so  scarce  that 
an  undue  premium  is  placed  upon  him.  This 
shows  itself  strikingly  in  commerce  as  well 
as  in  politics,  where  the  wage  of  even  blun- 
dering leaders  forms  an  enormous  tax  upon 


GYMNASIUM  FOR  CITIZENSHIP    29 

the  community."  ^  In  all  ranks  of  life,  in 
every  trade  and  profession,  in  all  grades  of 
social  service,  there  is  a  need  of  efficient 
leaders,  to  replace  blind  guides  and  costly 
blunderers.  When  even  imaginary  names 
have  been  elected  to  office  in  Philadelphia, 
as  the  Outlook  for  July  14,  1909,  claims, 
there  seems  to  be  a  dearth  even  of  partisan 
politicians  who  dare  to  clamor  for  office  with- 
out the  protecting  disguise  of  a  pseudonym ! 
The  ugly  chasm  between  the  big-salaried 
business  genius  and  a  host  of  low- waged 
common  workmen,  is  doubtless  due  to  the 
scarcity  of  the  former  and  the  oversupply 
of  the  latter.  The  business  world  still  has 
a  great  shortage  of  real  leadership.  It  is 
true  that  he  who  would  learn  to  command 
must  first  learn  to  obey.  It  is  equally  true 
that  he  who  would  best  obey  must  also  learn 
to  lead.  Here  is  the  trouble  with  our  poorly 
paid  workman.  He  is  lacking  in  initiative 
through  want  of  practice.  The  surest 
leaven  to  raise  the  level  of  the  industrial 
classes  is  an  education  in  initiative  which 
fits  either  for  sympathetic  leadership  or  for 
intelligent  cooperation.  It  is  a  significant 
fact    that   the    children    of    our    poor    immi- 


1  "Social  Education,"  p.  101. 


30  BOY  LIFE 

grants  in  America  are  ambitious  to  secure 
such  training,  at  any  cost,  and  by  the  thou- 
sands they  are  industriously  toihng  upward 
in  the  social  scale.  If  most  social  ills,  as 
Professor  Jenks  remarks,  are  due  to  "malad- 
justment in  social  relations" — which  is  all 
too  true — then  it  is  surely  a  great  kindness 
to  boys  in  their  teens  to  give  them  such 
training  in  social  adjustment,  in  initiative 
and  in  cooperation,  as  shall  fit  them  to  find 
and  fill  their  useful  place  in  life.  Further- 
more, the  need  of  such  a  study  as  this  is 
suggested  by  the  vast  boy  waste  in  our 
modern  life;  our  failure  to  make  manly  men 
out  of  boy  raw  material.  We  are  begin- 
ning to  ask  ourselves  that  unanswerable 
question ;  "What  shall  it  profit  a  community, 
if  it  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  its  own 
boys.?"  Do  not  try  to  find  an  answer  to 
this  question.  No  words  can  answer  it.  We 
can  only  reply  to  it  with  an  attitude  of 
anxious  love  and  a  program  of  determined, 
intelligent  action,  which  declares,  more  effec- 
tively than  any  words  could  utter,  "Though 
we  lose  the  whole  world,  if  it  please  God,  we 
•will  save  our  boys." 

One  of  the  surest  signs  that  our  genera- 
tion is  not  a  sordidly  commercial  age,  is  the 


GYMNASIUM  FOR  CITIZENSHIP    31 

fact  that  the  modern  business  discovery  of 
the  value  of  the  by-product,  and  the  avoid- 
ance of  waste,  is  being  carried  over  into  the 
realm  of  humanity  in  the  saving  of  boys. 
Rescued  boys  have  become  the  most  valuable 
by-product  of  our  wickedly  wasteful  civili- 
zation. 

Much  of  the  business  failure  of  the  past 
generation  was  due  to  the  large  proportion 
of  wasted  raw  material  which  found  its  way 
to  the  scrap-heap,  the  bonfire  or  the  sewer.  _ 
One  of  our  greatest  industrial  corporations, 
a  miracle  of  business  efficiency,  is  said  to  be 
making  forty-five  per  cent  of  its  profits  now 
from  the  b3^-products  of  its  raw  material, 
which  formerly  it  threw  away.  A  large 
creamery,  visited  not  long  ago,  is  saving 
thousands  of  dollars  a  year  by  selling  its 
refuse  dry  curds,  a  supposedly  valueless  by- 
product of  its  buttermilk,  which  had  been 
destroyed  by  the  ton  until  it  was  found  to 
have  a  commercial  value  in  the  sizing  of 
paper.  These  are  typical  instances  in  the 
marvelous  story  of  modern  business  efficiency. 

The  records  of  juvenile  crime  are  a  cumu- 
lative proof  that  we  have  not  yet  solved  the 
problem  of  preventing  our  boy  waste.  Crime 
is    continually    growing   more   juvenile,   and 


32  BOY  LIFE 

tlie  general  increase  of  industrial  schools  is 
an  indication  both  of  the  bad  situation  today 
and  the  promise  of  improvement  tomorrow. 
Our  reformatories  and  jails  are  still  filled 
Avith  mere  bo^'s.  The  maximal  age  for 
malicious  mischief  is  only  fourteen,  for  petty 
larceny  and  assaults,  fifteen,  for  crimes 
against  property,  sixteen ;  while  the  maxi- 
mum curve  for  fornication  is  at  seventeen/ 
Early  and  middle  adolescence  is  still  the 
•great  crime  period.  The  shirking  of  the 
average  home  largely  accounts  for  this  boy 
waste,  but  the  ethical  failure  of  the  public 
school  is  to  a  degree  responsible  also.  It  is 
significant  that  the  worst  year  in  boyhood 
is  usually  the  year  after  leaving  school. 
Mere  age  does  not  account  for  this,  nor  the 
change  in  life  habits.  Neither  is  idleness 
the  chief  cause,  for  most  boys  are  working 
boys  at  that  period.  The  big  fact  is  the 
gap  between  the  school  and  life,  and  the 
failure  of  the  former  to  prepare  for  the 
latter.  But  the  morning  dawns.  We  are 
discovering  the  value  of  the  boy,  and  are 
making  every  effort  to  save  him.  In  thus 
redeeming   the   by-product   of   wasted   boys, 


1  Hall.  "Adolescence,"  I:S»2. 


GYMNASIUM  FOR  CITIZENSHIP    33 

a  Christian  civilization  will  find  its  way  to 
a  more  substantial  progress. 

Again,  and  more  specifically,  there  is  a 
call  for  boy-workers  as  such  to  go  to  the 
bottom  of  this  subject,  because  of  the  marked 
tendency  of  much  "boys'  club  work"  to  de- 
generate into  mere  frolic,  with  little  intelli- 
gent effort  toward  any  definite  goal.  Many 
church  boys'  clubs  are  simply  schemes  with 
the  modest  aim  of  keeping  the  boys  out  of 
worse  mischief  and  giving  them  as  mild  a 
dose  of  boys'  play  as  their  sated  appetites 
will  be  contented  with;  while  the  easily  sat- 
isfied parents  complacently  acquiesce — for 
the  home  meanwhile  is  peaceful,  and  the  boys 
are  safe  at  church! 

However,  as  we  face  this  problem  of  train- 
ing the  boys  for  self-controlled  citizenship, 
there  are  some  fundamental  reasons  for  en- 
couragement. Our  primary  asset  is  the  un- 
deniable fact  that  the  boy  wants  to  be  a  man 
more  than  he  wants  anything  else  in  the 
world.  It  is  a  mania  with  him  sometimes, 
and  most  of  his  vices  are  to  be  interpreted 
in  the  hght  of  it.  The  imitated  swagger 
and  bluster,  the  awkward  attempts  at  pro- 
fanity, the  early  experiments  with  cigaret 
and  cigar,  are  not  due  to  any  inherent  liking 


Si  BOY  LIFE 

for  these  things,  or  to  a  depraved  taste,  but 
simply  to  the  overpowering  hankering  after 
manhood's  estate  and  a  man's  character- 
istics. 

Here  is  a  mighty  impulse  to  be  tamed  and 
utilized.  Let  the  impulse  to  imitate  the 
externals  of  the  life  of  men  be  directed 
inward  to  hasten  the  development  of  essen- 
tial manliness  in  the  unseen  life.  You  can 
count  on  the  boy  to  help  you  make  a  man  of 
him — because  nothing  would  suit  him  better. 

I  believe  j^ou  may  also  count  on  his  re- 
sponding to  right  appeals  to  his  latent  man- 
hood. He  will  gladly  cooperate  with  your 
efforts  to  help  him,  if  he  has  confidence  in 
you  and  your  ideals  of  manliness ;  if  he  feels 
instinctively  that  you  want  him  to  be  a  man 
of  the  right  sort,  and  not  a  mere  holy  puppet 
of  a  man.  To  stand  at  the  bar  of  a  boy's 
reason  and  conscience,  and  appeal  to  the 
manhood  that  is  waking  and  stirring  within 
him,  is  splendid  pleading!  No  mere  petti- 
fogging shrewdness,  nor  subtlety  of  logic 
will  win  him,  only  the  honest  sort  of  straight 
appeal,  face  to  face,  friend  to  friend.  The 
appeal  to  his  honor,  to  his  self-respect,  to 
his  honest  heart,  to  his  willingness  to  help, 
tf)  his  heroic  impulse  to  attempt  the  difficult 


GYMNASIUM  FOR  CITIZENSHIP    35 

task,  all  these  he  will  respond  to;  you  may 
count  upon  it. 

Without  trying  to  enumerate  all  our  rea- 
sons for  optimism  in  the  presence  of  this 
task,  let  us  add  but  one  more.  We  should 
thank  the  Lord  and  take  courage  because 
of  the  proved  success  of  so  many  of  the 
modern  social  movements  which  are  conspir- 
ing together  to  save  the  boy  and  make  a 
man  of  him.  The  great  boys'  club  movement 
the  civilized  world  over,  the  increasing  effi- 
ciency of  the  public  schools  and  of  well- 
ordered  private  schools,  the  attention  given 
to  the  street  boy,  the  newsboy  clubs,  the 
humane  juvenile  court,  the  friendly  proba- 
tion officer,  the  parole  system  with  its  strong 
appeal  to  honor,  the  industrial  school  which 
is  cheating  the  jail,  the  trade  schools  even 
in  prisons,  the  civilized  child-labor  laws  rap- 
idly becoming  effective,  the  working-boys' 
night  schools,  the  summer  camps,  the  Good 
Will  Farms  and  George  Junior  Republics, 
the  Big  Brother  Movement,  the  increasing 
breadth  of  the  boys'  work  in  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,^  and  the  grow- 
ing attention  given  to  the  problem  in  all  live 
churches — these   things   all   serve   to   remind 

1  Fifteen  times  as  many  boys'  secretaries  as  eight  years  ago. 


36  BOY  LIFE 

us  that  the  Christian  world  is  finally  awake 
to  the  fact  that  it  has  been  wasting  its  boys 
and  must  do  so  no  longer.  The  prospect 
is  certainly  hopeful.  The  boy  is  going  to 
be  saved.  Great  is  the  conspiracy  of  evil 
forces  to  curse  him,  to  exploit  him,  and  ruin 
him.  But  the  boy  has  friends.  They  are 
more  intelhgent  than  they  used  to  be;  and 
they  are  wonderfully  active  in  these  recent 
days  in  their  manifold  efforts  to  rescue  him 
and  make  of  him  a  useful,  self-controlled 
citizen. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  out-reachings  of 
this  subject  and  some  of  the  problems  in- 
volved. It  involves  the  ultimate  problem  of 
personality;  particularly  the  mysterious  way 
in  which  a  human  will  develops  and  grows 
strong,  preparing  for  the  stress  and  strain 
of  life.  It  introduces  the  question  of  the 
boy's  thought  environment,  the  boy  world  in 
which  he  does  his  thinking;  the  question  of 
the  instincts  and  propensities  in  the  boy- 
bundle,  which  are  his  strange  racial  inherit- 
ance. This  involves  the  study  of  recapitu- 
lation and  the  culture  epochs  theory,  the 
former  in  the  biological  phase  being  an  inter- 
esting chapter  in  the  doctrine  of  physical 
evolution ;    the   latter    in    its    psychic    phase 


GYMNASIUM  FOR  CITIZENSHIP    37 

revealing  the  boy's  tendency  to  live  over 
again  the  life  of  the  race.  This  involves  the 
examination  of  the  likeness  between  the  child 
and  the  savage;  and  the  comparison  of  the 
later  periods  of  boyhood  with  the  corre- 
sponding periods  of  race  history.  The  sym- 
pathetic study  of  savage  and  barbarous  cul- 
tures would  well  repay  us,  for  we  discover 
therein  the  origin  of  much  that  has  puzzled 
us  in  the  life  of  the  boy. 

In  applying  these  theories  of  boy  life  we 
are  confronted  with  the  query:  What  shall 
be  done  with  the  boy's  instincts?  Shall  re- 
capitulation be  encouraged  or  repressed, 
and  why?  What  are  the  possible  dangers 
of  repressing  what  seems  to  be  normal  to 
boy  hfe?  The  question  of  belated  instincts 
out-cropping  in  later  adult  life  interests  us 
here.  We  raise  the  question  of  belated  and 
precocious  manhood  and  how  to  treat  both; 
also  the  comparison  between  manliness  and 
its  counterfeits.  At  the  heart  of  the  specific 
problem  of  will  development  in  hastening  the 
process  of  manliness,  are  the  five  grades  in 
will  achievement:  self-control,  comradeship, 
personal  loyalty,  self-reliance,  and  leader- 
ship, and  the  characteristics  of  each. 

Realizing  the  necessity   of  following  the 


38  BOY  LIFE 

natural  method  as  much  as  possible,  it  will 
be  important  for  us  to  make  such  examina- 
tion as  we  may  into  rudimentary  society 
among  boys  and  their  spontaneous  organi- 
zations, their  gangs  and  groups  and  unfet- 
tered attempts  at  self-government  among 
themselves.  We  shall  then  be  ready  to  con- 
sider one  of  the  questions  which  first  sug- 
gested this  study.  How  shall  we  organize 
our  boys  in  their  teens,  so  that  an  increasing 
amount  of  responsibility  and  self-govern- 
ment is  placed  upon  them,  as  they  measure 
up  to  it,  and  a  decreasing  amount  of  exter- 
nal authority  be  used?  Shall  we  or  shall 
we  not  attempt  to  reproduce  at  certain 
periods  everything  from  the  patriarchal  and 
tribal  form  of  government  down  through 
the  monarchies  to  the  highly  organized 
democracy.'* 

We  shall  study  the  normal  transition  from 
external  and  parental  control  to  internal  or 
self-control,  and  try  to  determine  the  place 
of  the  adult  in  connection  with  organizations 
of  boys,  in  contrast  with  the  sphere  of  boy 
leadership.  A  careful  study  of  the  epochs 
of  boyhood  and  youth  will  be  necessary  for 
us,  to  determine  the  right  sort  of  organi- 
zation   and    degree    of    authority    for    each 


GYMNASIUM  FOR  CITIZENSHIP    S9 

period.  Then  follows  naturally  the  discus- 
sion of  mass  and  group  clubs,  the  varieties 
of  each  and  their  appropriateness  at  the 
different  boy  periods. 

We  shall  consider  the  special  question  of 
administration  of  the  boys'  department  of 
the  Association,  in  the  light  of  the  great 
opportunity  and  the  twofold  danger  of  auto- 
cratic control  and  indiscriminate  self-gov- 
ernment. Plans  now  in  use  will  be  analyzed 
and  a  scheme  of  graded,  or  progressive  self- 
government  will  be  proposed. 

In  the  chapter  on  By-Laws  of  Boy  Lead- 
ership, we  shall  show  how  we  must  supple- 
ment all  self-government  plans  by  genuine 
social  education  for  character  making.  The 
work  of  the  adult  adviser,  in  the  different 
stages  of  boy  life  and  boys'  clubs,  will  be 
worked  out  suggestively,  A  number  of  con- 
densed principles,  by-laws  of  boy  leadership, 
will  be  suggested  leading  up  to  the  topic, 
types  of  boy  leaders,  which  will  be  treated 
as  incarnations  of  the  various  boy  ideals 
dominant  in  the  different  periods  of  boy  life. 
The  two  subjects  of  supreme  importance  in 
boy  life,  the  boy's  religion  and  the  boy's 
home,  will  complete  our  study. 


CHAPTER  III 

BOY  LIFE  AND  THE  RACE  LIFE 

In  all  boy  problems  the  boys  themselves 
must  first  give  us  the  cue ;  for  after  all,  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Boyville  is  the  heart  of  the 
hoy.  The  best  pedagogy  declares  that  the 
pupils  must  teach  the  teacher ;  that  the  chil- 
dren's spontaneous  interests  must  dictate  the 
course  of  study,  and  their  voluntary  atten- 
tion the  methods  of  teaching.  But  it  was 
not  always  thus. 

Formerly  the  acme  of  garden  beauty  was 
the  formal  Italian  garden,  with  its  dinky 
little  evergreen  monstrosities,  filed  into  weird 
pyramids  and  grim  Noah's  ark  styles  of 
arbor  vitse.  Now  we  see  neither  sense,  life 
nor  beauty  in  such  gardens.  Our  foresters 
now  follow  the  lines  and  the  inclinations  of 
nature  and  give  us  the  trees  in  their  normal 
symmetry,  allowing  each  tree  to  work  out 
its  own  salvation,  according  to  the  laws  of 
its  being,  and  grow  up  in  unfettered  freedom 
as  God  Intended. 

Formerly  the  laws  of  childhood  were 
framed  by  old  folks  who  had  forgotten  what 
bo34iood  was  like,  and  were  trying  to  make 


42  BOY  LIFE 

prim  little  old  men  out  of  healthy  boy 
Indians.  How  ludicrously  pathetic  are  the 
little  Amish  boys,  dressed  in  long  pantaloons 
and  old  men's  broad-brimmed  hats,  as  soon 
as  they  get  well  out  of  the  cradle !  This  is 
about  what  the  average  pious,  well-meaning 
father  used  to  try  to  do  metaphorically  with 
his  boys,  before  the  new  day  of  open-minded 
child  study.  It  was  a  long  step  toward 
heaven  when  fathers  and  mothers  began  to 
take  the  cue  from  the  boy  and  to  ask  them- 
selves why  he  wanted  what  he  wanted. 

With  divine  wisdom  Jesus  placed  the  child 
in  the  midst,  saying,  "For  of  such  is  the 
kingdom  of  heaven."  "Back  to  the  child," 
says  the  modern  psychologist,  "of  him  we 
must  learn  the  ways  of  life."  It  is  certainly 
true  that  one  of  the  greatest  triumphs  of 
Christianity  is  the  discovery  of  childhood; 
yet  long  ago  the  Chinese  sage  said:  "Genius 
is  the  preservation  of  the  pure  ideas  of  child- 
hood; art  is  the  preservation  of  the  play  of 
childhood;  science,  of  its  curiosity;  inven- 
tion, of  its  fancy ;  religion,  of  its  faith." 

It  seems  a  very  trite  thing  to  say  that  the 
failure  of  a  Christian  home  to  make  Chris- 
tian citizens  out  of  natural  boys,  is  the  fail- 
ure to  understand  the  boys  and  the  world 


BOY  LIFE  AND  RACE  LIFE         43 

in  which  the  boys  are  living.  Adults  have 
always  found  it  difficult  to  remember  the 
world  of  childhood.  Grown  men  forget  that 
"A  boy's  will  is  the  wind's  will,  and  the 
thoughts  of  youth  are  long,  long  thoughts." 
Fathers  fail  to  understand  their  sons ;  can- 
not follow  their  train  of  reasoning  nor  see 
their  point  of  view.  They  wonder  how  the 
boy  reaches  such  strange  conclusions.  They 
wonder  that  he  sees  such  funny  things. 
They  are  as  much  surprised  at  the  contents 
of  the  boy's  mind,  as  they  are  at  the  con- 
tents of  his  first  set  of  pockets.  Surely  the 
boy  is  not  looking  at  the  world  through  the 
spectacles  of  maturity.  He  has  glasses  of 
his  own,  if  you  please ;  but  his  glasses  seldom 
fit  his  father's  eyes.  The  simple  fact  is,  the 
boy's  world  is  not  his  father's  world.  Not 
only  are  his  interests  different,  but  his  very 
concepts  and  sense  perceptions  are  different. 
His  feelings  are  radically  different ;  his  grade 
of  culture  also. 

The  father  perhaps  is  a  hard-headed, 
practical  man  of  affairs,  bent  on  the  material 
necessity  of  getting  a  living  out  of  his  busi- 
ness. His  world  is  the  world  of  today;  a 
world  of  tangible  things.  Unless  the  boy 
is    abnormally    civilized    and   unimaginative, 


ii  BOY  LIFE 

his  world  is  quite  likely  the  world  of  the  past, 
the  age  of  heroes  and  troubadours,  of  chief- 
tains and  mighty  men  of  valor,  of  knights 
and  men-at-arms.  His  thoughts  are  allur- 
ing pictures,  foreign  entirely  to  his  father's 
serious  cares  and  problems — pictures  of 
legend  and  myth  and  poetic  fancy,  full  of 
flashing  lights  and  enticing  shadows,  edged 
with  gnomes  and  fairies,  Lilliputian  pigmies 
and  doughty  giants.  Strange  things  are  in 
the  boy's  world ;  in  fact,  about  all  the  strange 
things  that  all  races  of  men  have  ever 
thought  or  seen,  all  rolled  up  in  a  bundle; 
for  the  boy,  in  a  deeply  significant  sense,  is 
the  product  of  the  past,  the  climax  of  all 
past  cultures.  The  background  of  his  feeling 
and  thinking  is  the  whole  experience  of  the 
race  in  the  spiral  struggle  of  human  prog- 
ress. We  cannot  hope  to  understand  the 
process  of  making  self-governing  citizens  out 
of  boy  savages  and  jolly  barbarians,  unless 
we  reconstruct  for  outselves  the  content  of 
the  boy's  world,  at  the  different  stages  of 
his  development.  We  shall  not  rightly  under- 
stand and  rightly  lead  the  boy  in  middle 
adolescence  until  we  have  with  him  climbed 
the  ladder  of  childhood  and  boyhood  up  to 
the  glorious  days  of  youth. 


BOY  LIFE  AND  RACE  LIFE         45 

Since  the  echoes  of  Ticonderoga  have  died 
away  and  men  have  finally  been  able  to  revise 
their  ideas  of  the  Indian  as  "a  blood-thirsty 
demon,"  and  have  begun  to  think  charitably 
even  of  the  barbarian  and  the  savage,  the 
interesting  fact  has  been  noticed  by  very 
many  people  that  there  is  a  close  resemblance 
between  the  civilized  child  and  the  savage 
races,  the  "childlike  races,"  as  we  now  prefer 
to  call  them. 

In  many  senses  it  is  true  that  the  savage 
is  a  child  and  the  child  a  savage.  They  both 
live  near  to  nature — give  them  half  a  chance 
— and  they  know  little  of  the  conventions 
of  society.  Both  live  self-centered,  egoistic 
lives  and  are  little  influenced  by  public  opin- 
ion. They  live  simpler  lives,  more  natural 
lives  than  we  are  apt  to  live,  using  simple 
tools,  utensils,  toys;  both  live  in  the  crude 
age  of  culture  and  intelligence.  Both  are  apt 
to  shun  labor,  responsibility  and  care;  hav- 
ing little  foresight,  worrying  little  and 
laughing  much.  Creatures  of  physical  appe- 
tite, they  are  seeking  for  the  creature  com- 
forts and  the  untrammeled  delights  of  an  out- 
of-door  life.  Prof.  A.  F.  Chamberlain  well 
saj's:  "The  passwords  by  which  travelers  of 
a  truly  scientific  bent  have  entered  into  the 


46  BOY  LIFE 

realities  of  primitive  man's  thoughts  and 
actions  are  absolute  trust,  comradeship, 
absence  of  guile  and  overreaching,  careful 
avoidance  of  giving  offense,  sympathy  with 
the  habits,  customs,  prejudices,  superstitions 
of  savage  and  barbaric  life,  and  display  of 
interest  in  the  things  really  important  to 
them — and  these  same  keys  open  all  the  doors 
of  childhood."  ' 

Stanley  Hall  writes :  "The  boy  of  ten  or 
eleven  is  tolerably  well  adjusted  to  the  envi- 
ronment of  savage  life  in  a  warm  country 
where  he  could  readily  live  independently  of 
his  parents,  discharging  all  the  functions  of 
personal  life,  lacking  only  the  reproductive 
function.  In  his  instincts,  amusements  and 
associations,  his  adjustment  to  such  an  envi- 
ronment is  quite  stable.  In  many  ways  he 
resembles  the  savage  and  each  furnishes  the 
key  for  understanding  both  the  good  and 
bad  points  in  the  other's  character."  ^ 

The  world  of  the  savage  and  of  the  child 
is  the  world  of  the  senses.  Both  depend  upon 
instinct,  observation,  intuition,  rather  than 
reason.  Both  are  creatures  of  impulse  and 
imagination ;    myth    making,    myth    loving, 

1  "The  Child,"  p.  293. 

2  "Adolescence,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  44. 


BOY  LIFE  AND  RACE  LIFE         47 

nature  worshiping.  "Childhood  is  a  curious 
world,"  says  Professor  Lombroso,  "in  which 
we  get  glimpses  of  primitive  man,  in  mental 
development,  in  the  emotions,  in  impulsive- 
ness, in  the  prevalence  of  imagination  over 
intelligence."  ^ 

The  dances  of  barbarous  peoples  (some- 
times even  their  war  dances)  resemble  the 
ring  games  of  children.  They  are  often  of 
the  merry,  rollicking  sort,  strangely  rythmi- 
cal, sometimes  as  graceful  as  the  children's 
"ring  around  the  rosy."  The  very  songs  they 
sing  remind  us  of  the  meaningless  ditties  of 
childhood,  when  play  and  song  are  instinct- 
ive, the  heart  of  a  care-free  life.  The  sav- 
age love  of  play  is  no  more  childish  than  their 
proverbial  love  of  bright  colors  and  their 
mania  for  crude  ornamentation  and  display. 
Some  one  tells  of  wasting  sympathy  on  a 
barefoot  negro  boy  and  offering  him  a  pair 
of  shoes.  The  boy  said  he  could  get  along 
without  the  shoes  well  enough,  but  he  was 
^'suffering  for  a  breast-pin !"  The  savage's 
love  of  the  dramatic,  of  story-telling,  rhym- 
ing and  chanting,  are  all  very  childlike,  like 
their  love  for  elementary  colors. 

Many   interesting   similarities   are   discov- 


1  "Sagrgi  di  psicologia  del  bambino,"  p.  ix. 


48  BOY  LIFE 

ered  in  the  language-making  of  children  and 
of  primitive  peoples.  Both  depend  largely 
upon  gesture,  the  universal  language.  Some 
savage  peoples  cannot  converse  in  the  dark. 
Some  mothers  have  to  light  a  lamp  to  dis- 
cover what  the  baby  is  crying  for.  Both 
have  a  limited  vocabulary.  They  have  a 
fondness  for  reduplication,  also  for  explo- 
sives, fricatives,  nasals  and  queer  clicking 
sounds,  rather  than  sibilants.  Lisping  is 
not  uncommon.  Their  penchant  for  sentence 
words,  a  sort  of  vocal  shorthand,  is  referred 
to  by  Herder.  "Primitive  man,"  said  he, 
"was  like  a  baby ;  he  wanted  to  say  it  all  at 
once."  This  interesting  analogy  of  lan- 
guage is  discussed  in  detail  by  Chamberlain 
in  his  book  "The  Child:  A  Study  in  the 
Evolution  of  Man,"  a  work  which  treats  this 
general  subject  with  great  thoroughness. 

Without  going  into  further  particulars, 
it  seems  sufficiently  clear  that  this  fact  of 
the  likeness  between  the  savage  and  the  child 
is  remarkable  enough  to  demand  explana- 
tion. Ethnologists,  biologists  and  psycholo- 
gists together  have  contributed  a  perfectly 
natural,  logical,  as  well  as  necessary  expla- 
nation, in  the  "recapitulation"  theory,  called 
in    its    later    aspects    the    "culture    epochs" 


BOY  LIFE  AND  RACE  LIFE         49 

theory.  In  the  light  of  modern  knowledge, 
it  seems  a  sensible  answer  to  the  question, 
"Why  is  the  child  so  much  like  primitive 
man?"  Why,  simply  because  he  inherits  the 
instincts,  the  feelings,  the  consciousness,  the 
experience,  of  generations  of  uncultured  an- 
cestors and  "climbs  up  his  own  genealogical 
tree"  by  passing  more  or  less  rapidly 
through  the  various  stages  of  progress  by 
which  his  fathers  have  become  civilized  before 
him.  In  technical  terms,  the  whole  story  is 
put  in  three  words :  "Ontogenesis  recapitu- 
lates phylogenesis."  That  is,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  individual  parallels  the  succes- 
sive stages  in  the  progress  of  the  race.  The 
embryo  in  utero  recapitulates  the  story  of 
animal  life  from  the  simplest  germ  cell  to 
man ;  and  the  baby,  growing  up  through  boy- 
hood— what  a  wonderful  process  ! — repeats 
the  age-long  struggle  of  mankind  upward 
from  savagery  to  civilization.  My  rever- 
ence for  the  boy  is  due  not  only  to  the  won- 
derful possibilities  rolled  up  in  him  by  the 
divine  involution,  but  also  to  the  marvelous 
heredity  which  he  rediscovers  to  us  through 
his  rehearsal  of  the  divine  evolution. 

This  is,  to  be  sure,  but  a  single  chapter  in 
the  great  wonderbook  of  God's  wavs  of  Avork- 


50  BOY  LIFE 

iiifT  his  marvelous  will.  Irreverent  indeed  is 
the  man  who  fails  to  discern  the  divine  splen- 
dor and  glory  in  tlie  continuous  creation  of 
hfe.  Yet  the  significant  fact  today  is  this: 
Many  of  the  most  devout  and  reverent  Chris- 
tian scholars  in  this  twentieth  century  find 
the  doctrine  of  evolution,  in  its  later  con- 
structive form,  not  at  all  hostile  to  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  but  a  most  welcome  support  of 
a  vital,  evangelical  faith. 

Immeasurably  more  wonderful  than  the 
older  theory,  is  the  profound  belief  that  God 
has  always  worked  as  He  works  today  in 
His  world,  patiently,  gradually,  through  the 
progressive  unfolding  of  the  powers  of  hfe, 
revealed  in  ascending  forms  from  the  simplest 
living  cell  to  the  physical  perfection  of 
humanity. 

"A  fire-mist  and  a  planet, 
A  crystal  and  a  cell, 
A  jelly-fish  and  a  saurian, 
And  caves  where  the  cave-men  dwell; 
Then  a  sense  of  law  and  beauty. 
And  a  face  turned  from  the  clod; 
Some  call  it  evolution; 
But  others  call  it  Ood." 

Not  sudden  cataclysm  in  a  few  brief  days, 
but  gradual  development  through  patient 
millenniums,  has  been  God's  plan  in  His  uni- 


BOY  LIFE  AND  RACE  LIFE         51 

verse,  and  when  we  see  this  vision  in  its  sub- 
limity, it  not  only  widens  vastly  our  horizons, 
but  it  also  clarifies,  strengthens  and  enriches 
our  reasonable  faith.  Instead  of  making  us 
think  less  of  God,  it  fills  us  with  loving  rever- 
ence and  awe  as  we  discover  the  majesty  of 
His  infinite  patience  and  the  perfect  nicety 
of  His  wise  prevision.  The  Father  God  of 
the  Christian  evolutionist  is  a  far  greater 
God  than  the  world  could  conceive  of  before. 
"Of  all  the  implications  of  the  doctrine  of 
evolution,"  says  John  Fiske  in  his  book 
"Through  Nature  to  God,"  "I  beheve  the 
very  deepest  and  strongest  to  be  that  which 
asserts  the  Everlasting  Reality  of  Religion." 
The  first  chapter  In  this  remarkable  story 
of  recapitulation  Is  purely  biological  and 
physical,  and  for  our  purposes  can  be  briefly 
stated.  Most  concise  Is  Professor  Baldwin's 
version:  "The  individual  in  embryo  passes 
through  stages  which  represent  morphologi- 
cally to  a  degree  the  stages  actually  found 
in  the  ancestral  animal  series."  ^  That  Is, 
the  human  embryo  In  the  uterus,  from  the 
time  the  ovum  is  fertilized  until  birth,  passes 
through  various  stages  of  development 
wherein   for   a  longer   or  shorter  period,   it 


1  "Mental  Development  in  the  Child  and  the  Race,"  p.  14. 


52  BOY  LIFE 

resembles  some  one  of  its  primitive  animal 
ancestors, — or  more  properly  their  embryo. 
Although  the  early  periods  are  recapitulated 
very  rapidly,  and  the  parallelism  is  doubt- 
less irregular  in  diiferent  embryos,  vestiges 
of  these  former  epochs  of  development  are 
plainly  seen. 

Shortly  before  birth  the  human  embryo 
greatly  resembles  the  embryo  of  the  anthro- 
poid ape,  though  each  speedily  grows  unlike 
the  other.  From  this  point  we  may  trace 
backward  the  progress  of  development  by 
w^liich  life  has  ascended.^ 

Perhaps  most  notable  is  the  fish  period  of 
the  human  embryo,  at  about  the  end  of  the 
first  month.  Dr.  F.  E.  Bolton  in  his  paper 
on  "Hydro-Psychoses"  or  water-atavisms, 
very  clearly  describes  these  proofs  of  man's 
amphibian  and  previous  aquatic  ancestry,  or 
as  Professor  Drummond  called  them,  the 
vestiges  which  smack  of  the  sea.  There  are 
definite  fish-like  appearances  in  the  brain, 
and  in  the  construction  of  the  heart,  accord- 


1  For  a  very  complete  and  fascinating  description  of  atavism, 
antliropoidal  and  otherwise,  read  Chamberlain's  chapter  "The 
Child  as  Revealer  of  the  Past  ": Chapter  VII.  in  "The  Child"; 
also  an  older  paper  by  Dr.  R.  Blanchard  on  "Atavism  in  Man," 
published  in  Rev.  d'Anthrop.  (Paris).  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  4S5-492,  in 
which  some  thirty  vestiges  of  animal  ancestry  still  observable 
in  the  human  physique  are  spociflrally  noted. 


BOY  LIFE  AND  RACE  LIFE         53 

ing  to  Romanes.  The  lungs  which  super- 
sede the  gills  are  very  primitive,  as  Darwin 
noted.  There  are  clefts  or  gill-slits  in  the 
neck  region  until  about  the  fourth  or  fifth 
week,  sometimes  lasting  until  birth  or  after; 
and  fin-folds  which  later  develop  Into  hands 
and  arms.  Emerson  truly  said,  "The  brother 
of  man's  hand  is  even  now  cleaving  the  Arctic 
sea  in  the  fin  of  the  whale,  and  innumerable 
ages  since  was  pawing  the  marsh  In  the 
flipper  of  the  saurus." 

"In  this  process,"  says  Dr.  Hall  at  the 
very  beginning  of  his  great  work,  "Adoles- 
cence," "the  Individual  In  a  general  way  re- 
peats the  history  of  Its  species,  passing 
slowly  from  the  protozoan  to  the  metazoan 
stage;  so  that  we  have  all  traversed  In  our 
own  bodies,  ameboid,  helminthold,  pisclan, 
amphibian,  anthropoid,  ethmoid,  and  we  know 
not  how  many  intercalary  stages  of  ascent. 
How  these  lines  of  heredity  and  growth, 
alon^  which  the  many  thousand  species, 
extant  and  extinct,  these  viatica  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  Life,  the  consummate  products  of 
millennia  of  the  slow  travail  of  evolution, 
have  been  unfolded,  we  know  scarcely  more 
than  we  do  what  has  been  the  Impelling  force, 
or  will  to  live,  which  seems  so  inexhaustible 


54  BOY  LIFE 

and    insistent The    early    stages    of 

growth  are  telescoped  into  each  other  almost 
indistinguishably,  so  that  phylogenetically 
the  embr^'o  lives  a  thousand  years  in  a  day, 
and  the  higher  the  species  the  more  rapid 
relatively  is  the  transit  through  the  lower 
stages."  ^ 

Doubtless  in  different  embryos  some  stages 
are  passed  through  more  rapidly,  while 
others  are  lingered  upon.  The  proper  nutri- 
tion probably  causes  the  hastening  of  the 
departure  of  a  certain  stage,  while  poor,  in- 
sufficient nutrition  will  cause  the  embryo  to 
linger  in  some  stage  of  its  long  progress ; 
and  this  unnatural  lingering  doubtless  causes 
certain  malformations  to  persist  in  the  child 
and  sometimes  through  life.  For  instance 
the  malformations  of  the  human  neck  or  ear, 
occasionally  noticed,  are  probably  due  to 
the  abnormal  persistence  of  the  fish  period 
in  the  prenatal  life,  caused  by  defective 
nutrition. 

Such,  very  briefly,  is  the  recapitulation 
doctrine  of  the  biologists,  important  for  our 
present  purpose  only  to  lay  the  foundation 
for  the  "culture  epochs  theory"  of  the  Her- 
bartian  teachers,   who  have  emphasized   the 

1  "Adolescence,"  Vol.  1.,  p.  2. 


BOY  LIFE  AND  RACE  LIFE         55 

more  Important  fact,  that  recapitulation  is 
not  merely  a  phj'sical  fact  but  psycliic  and 
social  as  well.  If  true,  this  is  a  fact  too 
great  to  be  ignored  by  students  and  lovers 
of  boys.  Mosso  well  said:  "What  we  call 
instinct  is  the  voice  of  past  generations  rever- 
berating like  a  distant  echo  in  the  cells  of 
the  nervous  system.  We  feel  the  breath,  the 
advice,  the  experience  of  all  men,  from  those 
who  lived  on  acorns  and  struggled  with  wild 
beasts,  dying  naked  in  the  forests,  down  to 
the  virtue  and  toil  of  our  father,  the  fear 
and  love  of  our  mother."  ^  It  is  to  learn  the 
origin  of  the  strange  instincts  of  boyhood, 
which  so  largely  dominate  boy  life  and  often 
become  immortal  through  habit,  that  we  next 
turn  our  attention  to  the  culture  epochs 
theory  which  is  at  the  basis  of  much  of  the 
Herbartian  pedagogy. 

It  is  quite  reasonable  and  rather  evident, 
that  the  parallelism  between  the  human 
embryo  life  and  the  stages  of  physical  evo- 
lution preceding  man,  is  continued  in  the 
child  life  as  it  recapitulates  the  race  develop- 
ment since  the  birth  of  race  consciousness. 
Rousseau,  Lessing,  Herder,  Goethe,  Hegel, 
Comte,  and  Spencer  are  some  of  the  great 

1  Monograph  on  "  Fear,"  p.  226. 


56  BOY  LIFE 

names  of  philosophers  who  have  developed 
this  doctrine.  Said  Hegel :  "The  individual 
must  traverse  the  stages  of  culture  already 
traversed  by  the  universal  spirit.  Doing 
this  he  must  yet  be  aware  that  the  spirit  has 
outgrown  these  older  forms.  He  must  pass 
through  them  as  over  a  w^ell-traveled  way."  ^ 
Lessing  in  his  great  work,  "The  Education 
of  the  Human  Race,"  writes :  "Education  is 
revelation  coming  to  the  individual  man,  and 
revelation  is  education  which  has  come  and 
is  yet  coming  to  the  human  race.  The  very 
same  way  by  which  the  race  reaches  its  per- 
fection must  every  individual,  one  sooner, 
another  later,  have  traveled  over." 

Among  modern  teachers.  Prof.  George  A. 
Coe,  though  he  states  it  very  guardedly,  says : 
"As  the  human  body  before  birth  passes 
through  a  series  of  forms  that  correspond 
in  the  main  to  ascending  embryonic  forms 
of  animal  life  in  general,  so  after  birth,  the 
mind  progresses  toward  maturity  through 
stages  which  correspond  roughly  to  the 
stages  of  human  history  in  the  large.  In 
a  certain  modified  sense,  the  child  is  first  a 
savage,  then  a  barbarian,  then  a  civilized 
being.       The     general     correctness     of     this 

1  Luquecr,  "Hegel  as  F.fliicator,"  p.  11?. 


BOY  LIFE  AND  RACE  LIFE         57 

theory  there  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  for 
doubting."  ^ 

Dr.  W.  B.  Forbush  speaks  of  the  years 
of  infancy  as  "rehearsals  of  prehistoric  and 
feral  ages,  and  the  years  of  early  childhood 
as  reproductions  of  the  protracted  and  rela- 
tively stationary  periods  of  the  barbarian 
days.  It  is  because  these  ages  were  so  long 
and  so  deep ;  because  man  has  been  a  savage 
so  much  longer  than  he  has  been  a  Christian, 
that  this  subconscious  heritage  needs  to  be 
recognized,  and  the  work  of  habit  making, 
which  is  the  analogue  of  the  past,  must  dur- 
ing; childhood  be  made  the  central  endeavor 
of  all  nurture."  ^ 

In  his  very  discriminating  discussion  of 
this  subject,  Prof.  A.  F.  Chamberlain  says: 
"This  view  that  the  individual  more  or  less 
distinctly  repeats  at  least  the  chief  stages 
in  the  development  of  the  race,  both  mentally 
and  physically,  has  been  accepted  as  the  car- 
dinal doctrine  of  the  newer  theories  of  edu- 
cation which  in  the  form  of  child  study  have 
made  their  influence  felt  in  America  and  in 
the  old  world."  ^ 


1  "Education  in  Religion  and  Morals,"  p.  211. 

2  "  The  Boy  Problem,"  p.  15. 
S  "The  Child."  p.  52. 


58  BOY  LIFE 

Before  applying  the  theory  of  the  culture 
epochs  constructively  to  boy  life,  let  me 
clearly  sound  the  note  of  warning  that  ire 
should  not  overxcorh  the  theory  unwarrant- 
ably, for  it  has  very  manifest  limits.  Let 
us  not  forget  that  even  more  powerful  than^ 
the  forward  push  from  behind  which  the  boy 
receives  from  the  racial  past  is  the  modifying 
influence  of  his  own  present  environment. 
The  great  variety  of  social  surroundings 
todaj'^  is  sufficient  cause  for  the  fact  that 
different  boys  recapitulate  differently  the 
same  racial  history.  The  higher  the  grade 
of  culture  in  the  family  into  which  he  is  born, 
the  more  a  boy  is  likely  to  telescope  whole 
racial  periods  in  his  development — whether 
to  his  advantage  or  not  we  shall  soon  con- 
sider. 

It  is  also  true  that  we  do  not  have  to  go 
back  to  the  past  to  find  our  different  levels 
of  race  culture.  We  may  find  them  all, 
parallel  in  time  and  place,  in  any  of  our  great 
cities,  in  the  different  social  strata  of  our 
modern  life,  where  l)oy  instincts  are  inhibited 
only  by  the  varying  repressive  forces  of  a 
more  or  less  barbarous  or  civilized  home. 
But  boys  from  all  these  grades  of  cultured 
and  uncultured  homes  make  up  our  schools. 


BOY  LIFE  AND  RACE  LIFE         59 

our  Sunday-schools,  our  boys'  departments 
in  the  Association.  It  is  evident,  then,  that 
any  mechanical  scheme  for  handling  boys 
simply  along  culture-epoch  theories  applied 
indiscriminately  to  fixed  periods  of  boy  life 
will  never  fit  the  variety  of  cases  in  hand. 
We  must  find  some  better  sieve  than  age,  or 
school  grades,  or  wealth,  or  social  status,  by 
which  to  sort  out  the  boys  who  may  best  be 
handled  together.^ 

However  this  note  of  caution  does  not 
negative  the  great  practical  value  of  the 
theory.  Some  people  are  inclined  to  dis- 
card it  altogether,  simply  because  there  is 
danger  of  overworking  it ;  and  thus  they  lose 
its  fine  suggestlveness.  This  Is  manifestly 
Illogical.  There  Is  value  In  it,  If  applied  dis- 
criminatingly and  with  reasonable  common- 
sense.  As  a  key  to  the  boy  problem  it  fits 
more  locks  than  any  other  key  I  know.  We 
shall  try  the  key  in  our  next  chapter. 

The  best  constructive  statement  of  the 
culture-epochs  doctrine  available  is  by  Dr. 


1  In  spite  of  this  clear  warning,  two  things  are  pretty  sure  to 
follow,  I  presume.  Some  who  object  violently  to  any  use  what- 
ever of  this  theory  will  accuse  me  of  overworking  it:  while 
others  lacking  in  discrimination,  will  probably  carry  my  con- 
structive suggestions  farther  than  my  carefully  guarded  words 
would  warrant. 


60  BOY  LIFE 

C.  C.  VanLiew  of  the  Illinois  State  Normal 
University : 

"I.  The  child  in  attaining  a  grasp  of 
the  social  order  and  civilization  into  which 
it  is  born,  and  the  power  to  adjust  itself  to 
that  order,  must  pass  through  those  stages 
of  spiritual  development  that  have  been 
essential  in  the  evolution  of  the  race. 

**This,  the  so-called  theory  of  the  culture 
epochs,  is  an  application  to  the  psychical 
development  of  the  child  of  the  theory  of 
recapitulation  which  the  doctrine  of  evolu- 
tion regards  as  established  for  the  physical 
development  of  the  individual.  The  analogy 
between  individual  and  generic  development 
may  be  briefly  indicated  as  follows : 

"II.  (a)  In  both  child  and  race,  mental 
development  proceeds  from  absorption,  in 
the  mass,  of  sense  perceptions,  through  the 
highly  Imaginative  or  mythical  and  legend- 
ary interpretation  of  phenomena,  to  the 
higher  historical,  philosophical  and  scientific 
interpretation. 

"(b)  In  both  child  and  race  the  develop- 
ment proceeds  from  the  grosser,  uncontrolled 
forms  of  impulse,  through  stages  of  fickleness 
and  caprice,  or  childish  trust  in  the  patri- 
archal guidance,  of  rebellion  against  the  law, 


BOY  LIFE  AND  RACE  LIFE         61 

and  the  lesson  of  necessary  subjection  to  the 
law,  or  autonomy. 

"(c)  Similar  lines  of  comparison  may  be 
drawn  for  the  development  of  the  interests 
and  emotions ;  which  are,  however,  very 
closely  associated  with,  and  implied  in,  the 
intellectual  and  volitional  development  of  the 
individual  and  the  race. 

"III.  As  to  material:  The  subject  mat- 
ter of  development,  i.e.  the  stimulus  to 
development  found  in  both  the  natural  and 
cultural  environment,  is  very  largely  the 
same  for  the  race  and  for  the  child,  thus 
giving  occasion  for  the  parallelism  of  devel- 
opment." ^ 

Now  for  purposes  of  comparison,  let  us 
examine  two  or  three  of  the  more  prominent 
schemes  of  division  into  epochs  of  human 
culture  history. 

A  long-accepted  division  into  six  periods 
leading  up  to  Civilization — Early,  Middle 
and  Later  Savagery  and  Early,  Middle  and 
Later  Barbarism — was  formulated  by  the 
American  anthropologist,  Morgan,  a  genera- 
tion ago.  Under  this  subdivision,  the  period 
called  Early  Savagery  began  with  natural 

1  Abbreviated  from   "  First  Supplement  to  the  Year  Book  of 
the  National  Herbart  Society,"  1895:  p.  ls8. 


62  BOY  LIFE 

subsistence  upon  fruits,  herbs,  roots,  nuts, 
etc.,  and  ended  with  the  use  of  fish  diet  and 
the  discovery  of  fire.  Middle  Savagery  began 
with  the  use  of  fire  and  ended  witli  the  inven- 
tion of  the  bow  and  arrow.  Later  Savagery 
developed  the  mythological  period  and  cul- 
minated in  the  invention  of  the  art  of  pot- 
tery, with  which  it  merged  into  Barbarism. 

Early  Barbarism  developed  village  life, 
with  many  crude  household  arts  and  ended 
with  the  cultivation  of  plants  and  the  domes- 
tication of  animals.  The  latter  achieve- 
ment introduced  the  Middle  period  of  Bar- 
barism, with  its  institutions,  its  agriculture 
and  pastoral  arts ;  its  beginnings  of  national 
life,  its  feuds  and  wars,  and  animal  diet. 
The  invention  of  the  process  of  smelting  iron 
and  the  use  of  iron  tools  brought  in  the 
period  of  Later  Barbarism,  the  iron  age, 
beginning  with  the  crowning  invention  of 
the  phonetic  alphabet  and  the  art  of  writing, 
which  began  literature  and  was  the  real 
birth  of  civilization.^ 

A  more  modern  scheme  is  that  of  Dr. 
Woods  Hutchinson,^  who  adopted  as  his  basis 


1  L.  H.  Morgan,  "Ancient  Society."  N.  Y.,  1878. 

2  "The  Growth  of  the  Child  Mind."    Educational  Times,  Vol. 
5i,  p.  220. 


BOY  LIFE  AND  RACE  LIFE         63 

for  division  into  stages  the  different  methods 
of  food  getting.  His  epochs  have  major 
reference  to  child  development,  with  less 
emphasis  on  the  racial  history : 


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BOY  LIFE  AND  RACE  LIFE         65 

Major  J.  W.  Powell,  in  his  studies  in  the 
development  of  human  society/  makes  simply 
a  fourfold  division:  Savagery,  Barbarism, 
Civilization,  and  a  dawning  period  which  he 
calls  Enlightenment — or  characterized  as  the 
Hunter  Stage,  the  Shepherd  Stage,  the 
Tyrant  or  Monarchical  Stage  and  the  Free- 
dom or  Representative  Government  Stage. 

From  these  suggestive  schemes,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  author's  special  emphasis,  or 
criterion  of  analysis,  largely  determines  his 
results  in  this  matter  of  culture  classification. 
It  is  also  rather  clear  that  the  three  ancient 
periods  of  Hunter,  Shepherd  and  Farmer  are 
generally  recognized  as  essential  stages  of 
savage  and  barbaric  progress.  However, 
we  must  remember  that  different  peoples  have 
sometimes  reversed,  mixed  or  omitted  one  or 
two  of  these  periods,  just  as  individuals  now 
telescope  and  omit  certain  of  the  culture 
epochs,  and  for  the  same  reason — the  in- 
fluence of  environment. 

All  of  these  schemes  are  very  suggestive, 
but  for  further  use  in  our  special  study,  two 
simple  divisions  are  proposed,  one  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  evolution  of  government 


I  "  From  Barbarism  to  Civilization,"   American  Antliropology, 
Vol.  I.,  p.  121. 


66  BOY  LIFE 

and  the  other  of  the  evolution  of  industry; 
the  former  apphcable  to  the  self-government 
problem  particularly,  and  the  latter  classi- 
fying the  boy's  spontaneous  interests,  rooted 
in  his  out-cropping  instincts. 


I.     Stages  in  the  Evolution  of  Government. 

1.  The  Primitive  Democracy  of  the  sav- 
age kinship  Clan.      Patriarchal. 

2.  The  Limited  Democracy  of  the  Bar- 
barian Tribe ;  becoming  monarchial  when  the 
single  tribes  ruled  by  the  "council  of  braves" 
come  together  as  allied  tribes,  under  the 
increasing  authority  of  a  "Chieftain  by 
prowess." 

3.  The  Tyrannical  period  of  Feudalism ; 
serfdom,  despotism. 

4.  The  Revolutionary  period  which 
developed   the   Constitutional   ]\Ionarchy. 

5.  The  Republican  Period:  Social  De- 
mocracy in  a  Self-Governing  State. 

II.     Stages  of  Industrial  Evolution. 

1.  Industry  developed  by  the  Acquisitive 
and  Collectional  instincts. 


BOY  LIFE  AND  RACE  LIFE         67 

2.  Industry  developed  by  the  Productive 
and  Destructive  instincts. 

3.  Industry  developed  by  tlie  Construc- 
tive and  Transformative  instincts. 

4.  Industry  developed  by  the  Commer- 
cial and  Cooperative  instincts. 

This  simple  classification  of  the  principal 
stages  of  racial  progress  will  be  kept  in 
mind  in  the  later  chapters  for  purposes  of 
comparison  with  the  development  of  boy  life. 
Somewhat  detailed  treatment  of  this  interest- 
ing parallelism  will  be  found  in  Chapter 
VIII.,  "The  Epochs  of  Boyhood  and  Youth." 
Meanwhile  let  us  see  if  the  culture-epochs 
key  fits  any  of  the  puzzling  locks  in  Boyville. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  BOY  AND  HIS  INSTINCTS 

Now  that  we  have  reviewed  the  facts  of 
the  recapitulation  process  and  have  outHned 
the  main  culture  epochs  of  human  history 
which  are  paralleled  to  some  extent  in  the 
lives  of  individual  boys,  the  practical  ques- 
tion arises,  What  shall  we  do  about  it?  We 
have  discovered  that  what  we  call  "crude" 
in  the  boy  is  simply  the  natural  expression 
of  his  instincts  due  to  recapitulation.  Now, 
is  it  best  to  encourage  or  discourage  this  pro- 
cess? Shall  we  repress  these  instincts  in 
the  boy  which  tend  to  reproduce  the  race 
life,  or  shall  we  encourage  their  expression? 
These  are  keen  questions  of  fundamental 
importance. 

Although  different  environments  may 
change  all  rules  for  boy  life,  in  general  it 
is  best  to  encourage  recapitulation.  Growth 
rather  than  surgery  is  the  normal  treat- 
ment here.  This  may  be  contrary  to  good 
old-fashioned  doctrine ;  but  I  believe  in  help- 
ing the  boy  to  make  a  business  of  being  "a 
young   barbarian"    for    a   time,    the    proper 


70  BOY  LIFE 

time,  and  then  be  done  with  it.     My  reasons 
follow   for  your   consideration. 

First,  it  seems  to  be  nature's  way  for  the 
growing  boy,  under  normal  conditions. 
What  is  natural  is  right  and  best.  It  is 
dangerous  to  thwart  nature.  Until  recently 
instincts  were  supposed  to  be  animal,  brutish, 
not  properly  human.  We  were  taught  to 
despise  them,  and  to  repress  them ;  to  root 
them  out  as  belonging  to  lower  natures. 
They  were  supposed  to  prove  the  doctrine 
of  original  sin !  But  now,  as  Prof.  H.  H. 
Home  says,  "Nothing  characterizes  the 
educational  theory  of  the  last  fifteen  years 
more  than  the  demand  that  the  instincts  of 
children  be  studied,  known  and  utilized."^ 
We  have  learned  that  the  repression  of 
instincts  is  dangerous  and  the  neglect  of 
instincts  is  a  dead  loss.  The  only  safe 
treatment,  good  or  bad,  is  expression.  Thus 
only  can  the  nobler  instincts  be  utilized  and 
perpetuated ;  and,  though  it  seems  a  para- 
dox, thus  often  can  the  evil  instinct  best  be 
gotten  rid  of.  Often  repression  only  exag- 
gerates the  lower  instincts  and  perpetuates 
them  by  postponement ;  and  bad  habit  re- 
sults.     If  the  boy  is  instinctively  something 

1  "The  Psychological  Principles  of  Education,"  p.  268. 


THE  BOY  AND  HIS  INSTINCTS    71 

of  a  savage  at  a  certain  period,  let  us  take 
hold  and  help  him  to  be  a  royal  savage ;  then 
he  will  the  sooner  outgrow  the  unworthy 
phases  of  savage  instinct  and  get  civilized. 
"The  wild  life  of  the  world  is  caged  in  the 
cerebrospinal  nervous  system  of  the  veriest 
child,"  says  Home  again.  Surely  some  of 
it  needs  to  be  let  out !  To  repress  it  is  to 
seal  up  dynamite.  Let  the  boy  be  a  bar- 
barian when  he  hears  the  call  of  the  wild, 
and  then  be  done  with  it.  It  may  keep  him 
out  of  prison  later  on. 

Again,  this  expression  of  instincts  by  re- 
capitulation is  the  way  to  form  good  habits. 
Right  habit  many  times  is  simply  the  per- 
petuation of  right  instincts.  Habit  will  be 
all  the  surer  and  more  permanent,  if  the  boy 
has  been  able  to  sort  out  his  own  instincts 
for  himself,  retaining  such  as  appeal  to  his 
best  judgment.  Let  him  "try  the  spirits, 
whether  they  are  of  God,"  and  "hereby  he 
shall  know  the  spirit  of  truth  and  the  spirit 
of  error."  ^ 

It  is  through  the  medium  of  play  that 
recapitulation  most  often  occurs.  It  gives 
the  boy  the  chance  to  indulge  the  play 
instinct  most  naturally.       It  is   a   crime   to 

1  I  John  4: 1,  6. 


72  BOY  LIFE 

cheat  a  child  out  of  liis  childhood  by  dis- 
couraging his  play.  Notice  liow  frequently 
the  labor,  the  crude  handicraft,  the  trades 
of  each  epoch  become  the  boy's  play  of  later 
generations.  Says  Chamberlain,  in  his  keen 
argument  for  the  necessity  of  play :  "Just 
as  helplessness  in  infancy  is  the  guarantee 
of  adult  intellect,  play  in  youth  is  the  guar- 
antee of  adult  morality  and  culture.  Play 
may  be  termed  the  genius  side  of  intellect, 
youth  its  inspirer.  Man  had  to  be  young 
to  be  civilized ;  had  he  no  youth  and  no  play, 
he  were  perpetually  a  savage."  ^ 

Thus  recapitulation  prolongs  boyhood 
and  postpones  the  period  of  unimaginative 
maturity.  Within  reasonable  limits  this  is  a 
vast  gain.  As  you  very  well  know — for  John 
Fiske  has  made  the  principle  a  commonplace 
now — civilization  rests  upon  the  primary 
fact  of  the  lengthened  period  of  infancy  and 
childhood.  This  simple  fact,  by  developing 
true  family  life,  produces  civilization  and 
safeguards  it.  To  quote  very  briefly:  "The 
prolonged  helplessness  of  the  offspring  kept 
the  parents  together  for  longer  and  longer 
periods  in  successive  epochs ;  and  when  at  last 
the  association  was  so  long  kept  up  that  the 

1  "The  Child,"  p.  27. 


THE  BOY  AND  HIS  INSTINCTS     73 

older  children  were  growing  mature  while  the 
younger  ones  still  needed  protection,  the 
family  relations  began  to  become  permanent. 
The  parents  lived  so  long  together  that  to 
seek  new  companionships  involved  some  dis- 
turbance of  ingrained  habits."  ^ 

Thus  out  of  the  helplessness  of  the  child 
arose  the  permanence  of  the  human  family, 
the  basis  of  civilization.  It  is  likewise  true, 
in  general,  that  the  longer  the  period  of 
youth  with  its  era  of  preparation,  the  higher 
the  grade  of  civilization.  Adolescence  it- 
self is  one  of  the  triumphs  of  civilization. 
Barbarians  know  it  not.  Savagery  short- 
circuits  directly  from  childhood  to  manhood. 
An  Aleutian  Indian  boy  is  an  independent 
hunter  and  often  a  husband,  at  the  age  of 
ten. 

By  preventing  precocity,  recapitulation 
favors  a  better  mental  development  later, 
and  tends  toward  longevity.  Contrary  to 
the  opinion  of  fond  mothers,  precocity  is  an 
atavism,  a  sign  of  primitive  man !  Says 
Havelock  Ellis,  "The  lower  the  race,  the 
more  marked  the  precocity  of  children  and 
also   the   arrest  of  precocity  at  puberty."  " 

1  "Outlines  of  Cosmic  Philosophy,"  IV.,  134. 

2  "  Man  and  Woman,"  p.  177. 


74  BOY  LIFE 

As  long  ago  as  the  sixteenth  century,  the 
Spanish  physician,  John  Huart,  discovered 
that  when  the  period  of  childhood  is  shorter 
than  the  normal,  each  succeeding  period, 
youth,  manhood  and  old  age,  is  also  short- 
ened, and  death  comes  prematurely.  The 
early  deatli  of  most  precocious  geniuses  sus- 
tains this  theory. 

In  particular,  recapitulation  tends  to 
postpone  the  sex  function,  giving  the  body 
a  better  chance  to  develop  in  preparation  for 
pubert}'.  Premature  sexual  life  is  the  most 
unfortunate  phase  of  the  precocity  of  un- 
civilized peoples,  and  usually  stunts  their 
mental  development.  Of  too  many  sexually 
precocious  boys  has  the  remark  been  true, 
"when  he  began  to  grow  whiskers,  he  stopped 
growing  brains."  Too  often  this  is  true  of 
working  boys,  child  laborers ;  but  the  boy 
who  is  allowed  to  give  free  rein  to  his  play 
instincts,  and  thus  prolong  the  days  of  cliild- 
hood,  thereby  tends  to  postpone  sexual  dv- 
veloi)ment,  and  consequently,  arrested  mental 
development  is  less  likely. 

When  boys  tend  to  rehearse  the  race  life, 
it  is  better  to  let  them  follow  their  bent,  for 
this  reason  if  for  no  other:  Thus  only  can 
they  work  out  the  spontaneous  organizations. 


THE  BOY  AND  HIS  INSTINCTS     75 

games  and  pursuits  which  develop  their  in- 
genuity, their  initiative  and  Avill  power  far 
better  than  tlie  plans  foisted  upon  them  by 
their  elders.  Thus  recapitulation  is  inci- 
dentally valuable  for  the  instruction  of 
adults.  "It  furnishes,"  as  Professor  Coe 
says,  "a  natural  perspective  for  studying 
the  phenomena  of  child  life.  We  are  re- 
minded that  the  child  is  not  a  being  having 
fixed  qualities,  but  one  that  is  continually 
outgrowing  itself.  We  are  better  able  to 
judge  what  is  normal  and  what  is  abnormal 
at  any  period.  We  learn  that  the  child 
naturally  outgrows  many  traits  that  we 
should  not  wish  to  have  perpetuated.  We 
cease  to  measure  his  conduct  at  any  one 
period  by  the  standards  of  a  later  period. 
We  learn  to  tolerate  and  even  approve  much 
that  our  forefathers,  comparing  children's 
conduct  with  adult  standards,  felt  con- 
strained to  condemn."  ^  (For  instance,  the 
fighting  instinct  in  small  boys.)  No  doubt 
the  very  common  adult  failure  to  under- 
stand boys,  and  the  reflex  boy  contempt  for 
adult  wisdom,  is  due  first  to  our  failure  to 
observe  the  unfettered  boy  in  action,  to  dis- 


1  "Education  in  Religion  and  Morals,"  p.  212. 


76  BOY  LIFE 

cover  tlic  ■world  epoch  he  is  just  now  hving 
in.     Recapitulation  offers  us  the  key. 

"Got  a  brace  of  rabbits,"  proudly  ejacu- 
lated a  very  j'oung  youngster  of  my  ac- 
quaintance (obviously  in  the  hunter  stage!) 
as  he  paraded  into  the  parlor,  with  the 
family  cat  tied  by  her  toes  and  slung  over 
his  shoulder  by  a  crooked  stick!  It  would 
have  been  a  tremendous  injury  to  the  self- 
respect  as  well  as  the  prowess  of  the  mighty 
hunter,  to  spank  him,  instead  of  promptly 
releasing  the  suffering  pet,  while  you  entered 
into  the  boy's  play,  and  yet  taught  him  that 
rabbits  had  short  tails  and  cats  were  not 
good  for  food !  Here  enters  nature  study, 
the  taming  of  the  savage  hunter  and  the 
beginning  of  the  pastoral  stage,  with  its 
love  for  domestic  animals  and  pets. 

Again,  the  free  expression  of  instincts 
enables  us  rightly  to  appreciate  the  meaning 
of  certain  spontaneous  interests  of  children 
and  youth.  A  iew  years  ago,  for  instance, 
we  found  a  new  meaning  in  the  boys'  "gangs" 
when  we  discovered  how  closely  they  imitate 
the  tribal  form  of  human  society.  Simi- 
larly, we  came  to  understand  the  tempora- 
rily absorbing  love  for  hunting  and  explora- 
tion, and  the  interest  in  war  at  certain  ages. 


THE  BOY  AND  HIS  INSTINCTS    77 

Here  again  the  key  unlocks  many  a  combi- 
nation that  has  puzzled  us.  Unquestionably 
the  clue  to  successful  boys'  work  is  the  arous- 
ing of  latent  interests,  to  develop  healthful, 
useful  effort.  The  touchstone  of  special 
interest  for  which  you  are  searching  will 
doubtless  be  found  within  the  zone  of  culture- 
life  through  which  the  boy  is  just  now  pass- 
ing. Thus,  a  listless,  unruly  boy,  unsatis- 
factory in  every  way  perhaps,  may  be  trans- 
formed into  a  wide-awake,  active,  untiring 
fellow,  working  out  the  suggestion  of  a  new 
absorbing  interest. 

For  example,  there  is  great  value  here  in 
thus  discovering,  not  merely  to  the  parent 
but  to  the  boy  himself,  a  genuine  vocational 
interest  and  aptitude.  While  the  boy  is  in 
the  more  primitive  periods  of  race  culture, 
realizing  for  himself  the  experiences  of 
Robinson  Crusoe  is  of  decided  value.  He 
thus  learns  to  figure  out  how  a  dozen  differ- 
ent arts  and  industries  originated  under  the 
crude  compulsion  of  necessity.  Later,  under 
the  impulse  of  the  constructive  instinct,  he 
fashions  for  himself  these  rude  contrivances, 
and  discovers  perhaps  some  special  aptitude 
as  well  as  interest,  which  native  ingenuit}'^ 
increases  and  develops,  until  the  boy  is  seen 


78  BOY  LIFE 

to  have  a  distinct  calling  for  some  special 
mechanical  profession.  The  Dewey  School 
in  Chicago  has  developed  this  principle  in  a 
most  interesting  way. 

An  important  reason  for  encouraging 
recapitulation,  which  has  already  been  hinted 
at,  is  this :  The  repression  of  certain  in- 
stincts when  they  normally  first  appear,  may 
result  in  the  later  outcropping  of  belated 
instincts  in  manhood,  with  their  foolish  train 
of  moral  and  social  anachronisms.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  the  boy  who  "fights  it  out  as 
a  kid,"  and  learns  self-control  under  the 
compulsion  of  gang-law  in  the  alley,  is  less 
likely  to  become  an  adult  scrapper.  Most 
of  us  like  a  good  fighter,  but  we  detest  a 
"scrapper."  As  Dr.  Balliet  once  said,  "If 
you  crush  the  fighting  instinct  in  the  boy, 
you  get  the  coward ;  if  you  let  it  grow  wild, 
you  have  the  bully ;  if  you  train  it,  you 
have  the  strong,  self-controlled  man  of  will." 
In  similar  vein,  INIiss  Winifred  Buck  writes: 
"No  boy  has  instinctive  principles  against 
fighting  and  it  will  take  him  years  to  acquire 
intellectual  principles  against  it.  Brutality 
cannot    be    suppressed.      All    children    must 

work    through    and   be3'ond    it With 

the    development    of    reasoning    power    and 


THE  BOY  AND  HIS  INSTINCTS    79 

sympathy,  the  desire  to  fight  and  the  satis- 
faction gained  from  it  ceases ;  but  as  long 
as  it  seems  to  be  the  natural  way  to  express 
justifiable  anger  or  indignation,  it  should 
not  be  suppressed."  ^  Cruelty  and  brutality 
in  a  grown  man  is  an  atavism  which  should 
have  been  sloughed  off  or  fought  out  in  boy- 
hood, in  the  savage  period  before  sympa- 
thetic imagination  had  properly  developed. 

Likewise  I  am  inclined  to  explain  that 
remarkable  phenomenon  of  adult  male  life 
in  America  today,  the  strange  "joining" 
fever,  and  the  love  for  the  pomp,  ritual  and 
regalia  of  the  secret  orders.  It  is  a  belated 
instinct  which  was  not  properly  expressed 
and  worked  off  in  boyhood. 

With  all  due  respect  for  the  splendid 
fraternal  work  of  all  true  brotherhoods,  and 
a  cordial  word  of  appreciation  of  their  real 
service,  let  me  suggest  that  the  instinct  for 
secrecy  is  normally  expressed  in  boyhood, 
and  especially  girlhood ;  that  the  instinct  for 
barbaric  display  and  wearing  costumes  of 
blue  and  red  and  gold,  with  plumes  and 
brass  buttons  and  epaulets  of  gilt  is  nat- 
urally expressed  in  the  soldier  plays  and  the 
play-acting   of   healthy    childhood.       If    the 

1  "  Boys'  Self  Governing  Clubs,"  p.  38. 


80  BOY  LIFE 

boyhood  of  a  generation  ago  had  been  en- 
couraged to  express  its  inherent  instincts 
for  sucli  things  at  the  proper  time,  many 
overgrown  boys  in  the  adult  ranks  of  today 
would  not  be  so  infatuated  with  belated  boys' 
pla3\  Sane  and  sincere  fraternalism  is  of 
course  a  permanent  asset  of  society,  but 
certain  phases  of  lodge  life  may  perhaps  be 
outgrown,  with  developing  culture. 

Possibly  the  best  positive  reason  for  en- 
couraging the  expression  of  instincts  in  boys 
is  the  actual  culture  value  in  the  process,  for 
it  is  thus  that  the  boy  in  his  own  conscious- 
ness actually  reaps  the  harvests  of  the  past. 
Why  should  we  be  so  provincial  in  our  esti- 
mate of  life  as  to  flatter  ourselves  that  we 
only  are  the  people  and  our  age  the  only 
age,  which  has  developed  permanent  human 
values?  Let  the  boy  be  a  savage  for  awhile 
in  his  heart.  Let  him  sit  at  the  feet  of  some 
ancient  medicine  man  or  mighty  woodsman, 
and  learn  of  him.  There  was  much  in  the 
free,  simple  life  of  the  clever  savage  which 
we  have  unfortunately  lost  out  of  civilization, 
and  which  in  adult  life  some  of  us  are  striv- 
ing to  recover. 

Let  the  boy  thus  learn  the  savage's  har- 
mony with   nature   and  his   closeness  to   the 


THE  BOY  AND  HIS  INSTINCTS    81 

earth  his  mother,  and  the  wood-folk  his  fel- 
low citizens.  Let  him  emulate  savage  wood- 
craft, the  woodsman's  keen,  practiced  vision, 
his  steadiness  of  nerve,  his  contempt  for  pain, 
hardship  and  the  weather ;  his  power  of  en- 
durance, his  observation  and  heightened 
senses ;  his  delight  in  out-of-door  sports  and 
joys  and  unfettered  happiness  with  un- 
troubled sleep  under  the  stars;  his  calmness, 
self-control,  emotional  steadiness ;  his  utter 
faithfulness  in  friendships ;  his  honesty,  his 
personal  bravery.  A  thorough  study  of  the 
finer  characteristics  of  savage  and  barbarous 
cultures  would  be  of  great  value  for  us. 
There  is  much  in  them  that  the  boy  needs 
and  can  easily  and  instinctively  gain  with 
our  encouragement,  and  be  a  far  stronger, 
finer  type  of  man  by  and  by,  a  much  finer 
type  than  the  hot-house  boy  brought  up 
in  a  city  palace.  The  boys'  secretaries  of 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  are 
doing  a  splendid  service  in  making  the 
American  boy  today  a  whole  boy,  a  full- 
orbed  boy,  inured  to  hardship  and  the  doing 
of  the  difficult. 

While  emulating  these  attractive  quali- 
ties of  the  savage,  there  is  very  little  danger 
that  the  normal  American  boy,  safeguarded 


82  BOY  LIFE 

by  the  restraints  of  civilization,  will  to  any 
extent  copy  and  perpetuate  the  bad  quali- 
ties which  made  the  savage  infamous  instead 
of  wholly  famous  for  his  virtues.  Environ- 
ment is  recognized  today  as  far  mightier 
than  heredity.  Our  opening  chapter,  in  dis- 
cussing the  duality  of  boyhood,  touched  the 
key  to  the  situation  here.  Jimmie  will  never 
really  become  a  barbarian  boor  so  long  as 
James  has  a  chance  to  keep  the  balance  in 
the  growing  boy's  life.  Whatever  good  in- 
stincts, inherited  from  the  care-free,  out-of- 
door  life  of  distant  uncultured  ancestors, 
Jimmie  may  wish  to  express  and  develop, 
James  with  all  his  fastidiousness  cannot  pre- 
vent. But  a  powerful  combination  will  op- 
pose Jimmie  if  he  attempts  to  disgrace  the 
family  by  really  objectionable  reversions  to 
savagery.  James  then  would  be  supported 
by  tlie  whole  household,  and,  in  fact,  by  most 
of  the  social  forces  of  the  boy's  civilized 
environment.  ^ 

The  question  is  now  in  order,  which  has 
doubtless  occurred  to  most  of  you  while  we 

I  Aftnr  this  discussion  of  the  boy  and  his  instincts,  the  reader 
will  appreciate  more  fully  the  writer's  intent  in  the  opening 
chapter.  A  glance  back  at  Jimmie,  James  and  Jim,  is  suggested 
here. 


THE  BOY  AND  HIS  INSTINCTS     83 

have  been  spending  so  much  time  on  this 
culture-epochs  theory.  After  all,  is  not  this 
whole  matter  of  instincts  a  small  boy  affair? 
Is  it  not  about  all  finished  before  the  boy 
gets  to  his  middle  teens?  In  discussing  the 
self-govei-nment  of  boys,  is  it  not  Jim  we 
have  to  deal  with  rather  than  Jimmie  or 
James?  This  is  quite  true.  But  it  has  been 
necessary  to  emphasize  this  fundamental 
matter  of  boy  consciousness  and  instinctive 
life,  for  two  reasons :  Adolescence  is  founded 
on  childhood;  and  there  is  much  belated 
childishness  in  adolescence.  It  is  doubtful 
if  any  one  can  fully  understand  Jim,  without 
first  having  known  Jimmie ;  and  surely  a 
good  deal  of  Jimmie  still  persists  in  Jim.  In 
fact,  many  a  Jim  comes  on  the  scene  too  soon, 
just  because  Jimmie  has  been  held  back  and 
hasn't  had  a  good  chance  to  kick  and  hunt 
and  be  a  good  savage ;  or  conversely,  because 
he  has  run  wild  at  it,  and  has  not  recovered 
from  his  overdose  of  Indian  measles — tlien 
Jim  comes  too  late.  In  other  words,  our 
treating  this  phase  of  the  subject  so  fully 
was  necessary  not  only  to  lay  the  founda- 
tions in  boyhood  for  the  problems  of  adoles- 
cence ;  but  also  because  in  so  many  cases  we 
find  belated  instincts   working   out   in   older 


8i  BOY  LIFE 

boys,   wliich   we  must   understand,   properly 
relate  and  tactfully  handle. 

Of  the  two  evils,  precocity  is  apt  to 
prove  more  disastrous  than  delayed  manli- 
ness. The  latter,  however,  is  more  apt  to 
follow  the  overindulgence  of  savage  instincts. 
Hj'pnotized  by  the  glamour  of  his  play- 
world,  the  chronic  boy  presents  a  real  case 
of  arrested  development.  When  the  element 
of  manhness  is  delayed  by  the  persistence  of 
the  barbarian  spirit,  horse-play,  laziness, 
awkwardness  and  lack  of  manly  purpose, 
Jimmie  becomes  a  serious  problem  and  some- 
times a  public  nuisance.  A  case  of  too- 
much-Jimmie  calls  for  very  tactful,  sympa- 
thetic handling.  Sometimes  the  continuous 
discipline  of  a  winter  in  school  will  accom- 
plish your  purpose.  Oftener  this  very 
routine  aggravates  the  difficulty  and  makes 
the  ninth  grade  the  hardest  to  manage  be- 
cause several  boys  of  this  description  are 
conspiring  to  make  barbarian  nuisances  of 
themselves.  Probably  the  best  time  to  get 
the  best  of  this  particular  kind  of  measles 
is  in  the  summer,  and  at  a  summer  camp,  if 
you  can  get  a  continuous  influence  over  the 
boy.  The  cases  are  best  handled  in  small 
groups  or  alone.      The  discipline  of  the  camp 


THE  BOY  AND  HIS  INSTINCTS     85 

is  an  excellent  tonic  and  will  accomplish 
much,  especially  if  at  this  period  there  is  a 
growing  measure  of  self-government  allowed. 
But  what  will  win  is  the  appeal  to  the 
boy's  honor  and  his  self-resDect,  assuring 
him  of  your  confidence  in  him  and  faith  in 
his  future.  Overlook  his  crudities  and  make 
him  think  you  reckon  him  at  several  years 
older  than  he  acts.  This  will  bring  him 
quickly  up  to  your  estimate  of  him,  and  his 
latent  manliness  will  rapidly  appear,  at  least 
in  your  presence.  He  will  soon  have  a  keen 
desire  to  win  j'our  approval  and  hold  your 
respect.  Trust  him  and  he  will  not  disap- 
point you ;  for  he  will  come  to  feel  that  you, 
among  all  his  friends,  understand  him.  En- 
courage his  confidences,  and  he  will  soon  con- 
fide in  you  freely,  and  at  such  times  you  may 
readily  influence  him  by  the  power  of  sug- 
gestion to  which  such  boys  are  peculiarly 
susceptible.  You  can  then  arouse  in  him 
new  purposes,  higher  standards  of  manliness, 
right  ambitions  for  his  own  future,  and  per- 
haps a  true  ideal  of  usefulness.  Now  is  the 
time  when  the  boy  is  ripe  for  a  sensible,  manly 
Christian  experience,  which  will  exalt  these 
new  experiences  and  purposes  and  make  them 
permanent ;  binding  him,  through  your  own 


86  BOY  LIFE 

friendship,  to  your  Master,  the  manly  Christ. 
Let  young  Jimmie  run  the  whole  gamut  of 
health}^  boy  life  with  its  clean  fun.  I^et  him 
run  through  all  the  phases  of  race  cultures, 
absorb  the  best  of  them  all  and  perpetuate 
in  his  enduring  habits  the  noblest  instincts 
the  past  has  given  him  as  liis  racial  endow- 
ment. Then  let  manly  young  Jim  come  on 
the  scene  in  due  season,  with  a  Christian  man- 
liness which  becomes  him  well,  not  only  the 
heritage  of  his  Christian  home  and  his 
civilized  environment,  but  the  result  of  the 
grace  of  God  working  in  his  soul  through 
boyhood  years  as  his  will  has  been  developed 
through  struggle. 

As  Jimmie's  moral  problem  is  the  making 
of  right  habits  and  a  conscience,  Jim's  prob- 
lem is  the  making  of  a  WILL,  a  man's  will. 
Emerson  said  a  near  truth  wliich  all  boys 
should  heed,  "The  real  man  in  you  is  the  will 
in  you."  The  making  of  a  young  man's 
will  is  the  terri[)cring  of  the  finest  steel,  by 
7)erhaps  the  finest  f)rocess  known  in  human 
life.  To  this  specific  problem  we  next  give 
our  attention. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   STRUGGLE  FOR   MANLINESS 

We  now  address  ourselves  to  the  problem 
of  developing  the  boy's  will.  It  must  be 
done  naturally,  by  the  use  of  his  own  initia- 
tive as  the  boy  passes  through  the  various 
stages  of  progress  up  to  the  high  plane  of 
intelligent,  self-directive  American  citizen- 
ship with  its  complex  demands  for  social 
adjustment.  The  early  stages  of  this  pro- 
cess constitute  a  zaill-crisls,  the  change  from 
parental  and  external  to  internal  or  self- 
control. 

During  the  plastic  days  of  childhood, 
parental  control  is  normal  and  usually  not 
too  difficult.  It  is  natural  for  the  child  to 
lean  upon  the  will  of  others,  to  depend  upon 
their  judgment,  their  decisions,  to  profit  by 
their  mature  experience,  to  obey  their  com- 
mands and  to  follow  their  advice. 

But  a  new  sense  of  sclfness  comes  at 
puberty.  It  is  the  new  birth  of  individu- 
ality ;  and,  with  a  sharp  experience  some- 
times, the  boy  life  cuts  loose  from  the  peace- 
ful moorings  of  its  child  environment.  In 
early   adolescence   the   boy   becomes   psychi- 


88  BOY  LIFE 

cally  independent.  His  will  asserts  itself 
vigorously  and  the  problem  of  parental  con- 
trol becomes  a  serious  one,  if  in  fact  it  has 
not  previously.  The  boy  is  manifestly  too 
young  and  inexperienced  to  be  master  of 
himself.  Yet  he  is  too  old  and  too  conscious 
of  his  new  powers  to  be  managed  comfort- 
ably by  adults.  He  particularly  objects  to 
parental  discipline.  His  father's  commands 
and  his  mother's  orders  he  no  longer  obeys 
if  he  can  help  it,  and  he  even  begins  to  dis- 
count their  advice.  If  the  boy  is  anchored 
to  his  home  by  a  mighty  cable  of  mother  love 
and  father's  comradeship,  his  suddenly 
careening  balloon  will  outride  the  storm,  this 
first  strange  gust  of  self-discovery.  But 
too  often  the  boy  is  likely  to  be  actually  at 
war  with  his  home  at  this  period,  chafing 
bitterly  at  every  restraint  and  resenting 
every  well-meant  attempt  to  curtail  his 
liberty. 

The  real  cause  of  this  domestic  strife  is 
the  boy's  intuitive  feeling  that  the  folks  don't 
recognize  his  developing  manhood  and  the 
dignity  of  freedom  it  deserves.  He  is  mis- 
unfierstood.  He  feels  that  he  is  not  appre- 
ciated at  his  true  valuation.  If  all  the 
members  of  tlie  family,  the  boy  included,  are 


STRUGGLE  FOR  MANLINESS       89 

fortunate  enough  to  be  remarkably  good- 
natured,  and  rather  phlegmatic  in  tempera- 
ment, it  is  possible  that  no  serious  trouble 
will  ensue.  The  flint  and  steel  of  personali- 
ties are  not  hard  enough  to  strike  a  spark, 
and  the  boy  magazine  does  not  explode. 
Quite  likely  he  gets  his  own  way  anyhow, 
merely  by  asserting  it. 

But  if  the  boy  inherits  a  strong  will,  from 
either  side  of  the  house,  and  the  sort  of  wil- 
fulness commonly  called  spunk,  you  may  look 
for  fireworks.  Happy  that  home  if  there 
is  a  single  member  keen  enough  to  sense  the 
situation  and  hold  the  boy's  confidence  suffi- 
ciently to  have  at  least  advisory  influence 
with  him,  by  keeping  pace  with  his  suddenly 
developing  manhood.  Unfortunately  "Some 
mad  parents,"  says  Dr.  Forbush,  "take  this 
time  to  begin  that  charming  task  of  break- 
ing the  boy's  will,  which  is  usually  set  about 
with  the  same  energy  and  the  same  imple- 
ments as  the  beating  of  carpets."  The  re- 
sult is  sure  disaster  if  this  insane  policy  is 
continued.  A  boy  of  indomitable  spirit 
either  fights  it  out  merrily  day  after  day,  or, 
wearying  of  hostilities,  runs  away  from 
home.  To  attempt  to  break  the  will  of  such 
a  boy  is  to  ruin  the  peace  of  the  home  and 


90  BOY  LIFE 

make  a  ghastly  chasm  between  father  and 
son. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  boy  Is  not  high- 
spirited,  but  naturally  lacking  in  courage 
and  ambition,  he  finally  surrenders  the  cita- 
del of  his  embryonic  manhood,  and  with 
broken  spirit  submits  his  will  to  the  imperious 
will  of  his  father  or  motlier.  Henceforth  he 
is  apt  to  be  a  maimed,  dwarfed  personality, 
lacking  in  courage,  in  nerve,  in  self-confi- 
dence. Filial  obedience  purchased  at  such 
a  cost  will  never  be  any  comfort  to  a  parent, 
except  to  please  his  vanity. 

Manifestl}'^,  then,  the  worst  way  to  handle 
the  boy  at  this  crisis  is  to  "break  his  will." 
It  means  breaking  his  spirit.  Enforced  sub- 
mission, compulsory  obedience,  unwilling 
subserviency  to  the  will  of  a  parent  and  his 
iron-clad  rules  of  conduct,  Avitliout  reason 
or  intelligence,  never  tend  to  the  making  of 
character.  At  best  it  is  but  a  temporary 
substitute  for  it,  which  is  laid  aside  as  soon 
as  freedom  comes.  It  perpetuates  the  irre- 
sponsible weakness  of  the  child  and  prevents 
the  development  of  a  sovereign  personality. 
After  puberty,  obedience  to  parents  must 
be  a  reasoning  obedience  to  reasonable 
requests. 


STRUGGLE  FOR  MANLINESS       91 

It  need  not  be  said  that  the  reverse  policy 
of  coddling,  begging  and  buying  obedience 
is  equally  foolish;  as  is  also  an  overdose  of 
teaching  or  preaching.  The  boy  is  spoiHng 
for  action,  good  or  bad.  The  breath  of  Ufe 
is  in  his  nostrils.  Red  blood  is  surging  in 
his  veins.  He  is  impatient  at  overmuch  talk 
on  any  subject,  when  the  impulse  to  do  things 
and  to  dare  things,  the  impulse  for  activity, 
adventure  and  danger  is  tugging  at  his  heart 
strings. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  some  one  suggests : 
"The  boy's  will  doesn't  need  developing. 
Isn't  it  already  overdeveloped.'"'  Yes  and 
no.  As  usual,  it  depends  upon  the  boy. 
Even  the  most  normal  and  well-balanced  boy 
is  inexperienced  and  needs  such  practice  in 
initiative  and  in  the  development  of  coopera- 
tion as  shall  fit  him  for  all  manner  of  social 
adjustments.  But  boys  of  the  obstructed- 
will  type  need  positivel}^  will  development. 
This,  to  be  sure  is  not  the  sort  of  boy  I  have 
been  describing,  but  he  is  very  numerous, 
though  not  so  much  in  evidence  as  the  more 
active  boy. 

He  is  passive,  hesitant,  bashful,  shrinking, 
sometimes  backward  in  his  studies,  and  his 
teachers  think  him  dull;  sometimes  too  pre- 


92  BOY  LIFE 

cocious  with  books  but  otherwise  defective ; 
slow  in  learning  new  movements,  and  a  poor 
hand  at  competitive  games.  Either  his  ideas 
block  each  other,  or  else  he  lacks  ideas  and 
such  as  he  has  are  deficient  in  impulsiveness. 
He  therefore  has  the  making  either  of  a 
genius  or  a  blockhead;  and  is  pretty  sure  to 
be  eccentric  in  either  case  unless  somebody 
rescues  him.  He  is  lacking  in  the  courage 
to  make  starts,  which  we  call  initiative,  and 
this  he  must  learn  by  practice.  As  Professor 
Home  says,  "The  great  principle  in  dealing 
with  the  obstructed-will  is  in  some  way  to 
secure  expression,  to  open  the  flood-gates 
of  nervous  energy,  to  connect  mental  states 
with  physical  reactions,  to  make  action 
easy."  ^  Such  a  boy  needs  to  learn  self- 
confidence,   self-activity  and  facility. 

The  boy  of  the  opposite  type,  the  ener- 
getic boy  with  the  precipitate  will,  has  will 
enough  but  it  sadly  needs  harnessing,  direct- 
ing. This  is  doubtless  the  kind  of  a  boy 
referred  to  in  the  witticism,  "If  God  made 
the  first  man  out  of  the  dust  of  the  earth. 
He  must  have  made  the  first  boy  out  of  dust 
and  electricity."  In  dealing  with  such  boys, 
we  strike  the  boy  problem  with  all  its  fasci- 


1  "  Psychological  Principles  of  Education,"  p.  276. 


STRUGGLE  FOR  MANLINESS       93 

nations  and  most  of  its  difficulties,  but  with 
the  distinct  advantage  of  understanding  our 
subject,  for,  unlike  the  obstructed- will  type, 
this  boy  is  constantly  revealing  himself  in 
word  and  action.  He  is  very  impulsive, 
easily  led  astray,  and  forms  the  class  which 
supports  the  juvenile  courts  and  the  jail; 
though  his  criminal  tendencies  are  not  at 
first  vicious  or  malicious,  simply  mischievous. 
He  is  generous  to  a  fault ;  volatile,  irrespon- 
sible, fickle.  Physiologically,  his  nervous 
system  lacks  inhibition.  He  has  a  hair- 
trigger  will;  jumps  at  conclusions,  short- 
circuiting  directly  from  idea  to  action,  with- 
out stopping  to  consider  consequences. 

The  bully,  the  boy  leader,  the  alley  king, 
are  all  of  this  type.  They  are  usually  pre- 
cocious, self-confident,  resourceful  in  emer- 
gencies, impatient,  domineering,  showy,  in- 
clined to  be  superficial,  too  hasty  to  be  thor- 
ough in  anything  except  their  well-loved 
specialties ;  resenting  opposition,  hindrance 
or  direct  control.  If  unchecked,  they  are  in 
danger  of  monomanias  which  result  from  in- 
sistent ideas  and  uncontrolled  impulses. 

Such  a  boy  does  not  need  to  be  threatened, 
commanded  or  whipped.  He  needs  to  be  held 
back  by   association  with   bigger  boys   who 


9i  BOY  LIFE 

will  check  his  impulsiveness,  initiate  his  fresh 
bumptiousness  as  it  deserves,  and  tone  down 
his  too  eager  love  of  leadership.  He  needs 
the  wholesome  lesson  of  defeat  and  failure, 
to  reduce  his  conceit.  Let  him  reap  the  good 
fruits  of  discouragement  and  enforced  hu- 
mility, until  he  learns  what  a  splendid  good 
fellow  his  chum  is !  Meanwhile  we  have  the 
task  of  furnishing  his  fertile  brain  and  rest- 
less hand  some  worth  while  interest,  already 
latent  within  him  doubtless,  which  will  utilize 
his  abundant  energy,  keep  him  busy  and 
regularly  tired  at  night. ^  There  is  a  vast 
reservoir  of  manly  power  and  efficiency  in 
this  sort  of  a  boy,  if  you  can  stop  the  leak 
in  the  dike,  and  then  teach  him  how  to  con- 
serve and  direct  his  powers  and  utilize  his 
talents. 

Yes,  whether  the  boy  is  of  the  obstructed- 
vnW  type,  or  over-impulsive  and  precipitate, 
or   splendidly   well-balanced   and   uninterest- 


1  There  is  a  civilizing  force  here  of  tremendous  efficacy.  No 
one  can  estimate  the  value  of  regular  business  hours  and  routine 
work  for  the  majority-  of  men  as  a  peace-preserving  factor  and  a 
force  for  social  control.  One  of  the  triumphs  of  civilization  is 
the  regularity  of  work  among  civilized  peoples.  Ferrero  con- 
siders the  work  habit  largely  responsible  for  civilization.  He 
says  in  his  "Les  formes  primitives  du  travail"  (Rev.  Scientif. 
18»a,  p.  331-535),  "The  habit  of  regular  and  methodical  work 
has  destroyed  the  violent  impulsiveness  of  primitive  man'r 
character." 


STRUGGLE  FOR  MANLINESS       95 

ingly  normal,  his  will  needs  our  help  in  its 
development,  as  he  gradually  passes  through 
the  crisis  from  home-control  to  self-control. 

In  nothing  is  the  pedagogical  principle 
truer  than  in  this  matter  of  will  making: 
the  pupil  learns  not  by  being  taught,  but 
by  doing  the  thing.  Experience  is  the 
greatest  teacher.  Will  power  grows  only 
through  exercise,  like  every  other  function. 
Intelligent  will-activity  comes  by  practice  in 
personal  initiative  and  growing  leadership. 
The  breaking  of  the  will,  the  overpowering 
or  the  eclipse  of  the  will,  the  surrender  of 
the  will,  the  substituting  of  another's  will, 
can  never  provide  a  boy  with  a  will  of  his 
own.  He  must  take  his  own  observations, 
make  up  his  own  mind,  form  his  own  habits, 
come  to  his  own  decisions  and  personal 
choices,  and  learn  to  use  his  own  will  with  the 
quickness  of  decision  and  sureness  of  mental 
dexterity  which  successful  character  build- 
ing, as  well  as  business  life,  requires.  For  a 
number  of  years  the  boy  needs  guidance  in 
all  this;  but  he  must  increasingly  be  self- 
willed,  in  the  right  sense,  and  less  and  less 
depend  upon  the  judgment  and  advice  of 
others.  This  compels  even  the  most  fond 
and  unwilling  parent  to  face  the  fact  that 


96  BOY  LIFE 

parental  control  must  gradually  hut  per- 
sistently he  •withdraicn  from  the  boy  and  an 
increasing  degree  of  freedom  of  action  al- 
lowed him,  all  through  the  period  of  the 
teens ;  gradually  at  first,  but  increasingly, 
until  he  safely  reaches  independence  with 
man's  estate,  in  late  adolescence. 

This  process  of  growing  will  independence 
is  just  a  bit  dangerous  at  first,  like  learning 
to  swim;  and  just  a  little  uncertain  at  first, 
like  learning  to  walk.  The  self-sufficient  boy 
who  obstinately  refuses  to  obey  his  father, 
seldom  knows  the  limits  of  his  own  untried 
powers.  His  inexperience  with  the  world's 
uncharted  seas  and  with  the  helm  of  his  own 
life-craft  makes  independent  sailing  a  dan- 
gerous sport.  If  we  can  confine  his  experi- 
ments in  reasonably  shallow  water,  and  near 
enough  home,  it  is  sometimes  the  most  salu- 
tary experience  for  him  to  let  him  take  his 
own  risks  and  get  capsized.  Thus  he  will 
learn  the  wind's  treachery,  the  water's  dan- 
ger and  discomfort  (when  he  has  boots  on!) 
and  his  own  poor  judgment  and  insufficiency. 
He  needs  to  buy,  as  cheaply  as  possible,  the 
necessary  experience  of  failure,  which  will 
tone  down  his  wilfulness,  develop  his  caution, 
cultivate  his  dexterity  in  handling  his  own 


STRUGGLE  FOR  MANLINESS       97 

craft,  practice  his  judgment  and  his  quick- 
ness of  decision,  and  give  him  a  working 
knowledge  of  his  world.  All  this  means 
growing  initiative.  The  boy's  will  may  not 
grow  steadily  in  this  fashion,  but  it  grows 
surely.  He  learns  to  sail  his  craft  by  sail- 
ing it,  ten  times  as  quickly  as  he  would  if 
his  father  simply  tried  to  teach  him  how  by 
watching  him  at  the  tiller. 

Let  us  tabulate  some  of  these  suggestions 
on  will  development  which  we  have  been  con- 
sidering : 

1.  The  boy  must  develop  his  own  will, 
not  borrow  or  lean  on  ours. 

2.  He  can  develop  it  only  by  practice; 
he  cannot  be  taught  it  passively. 

3.  Yet  tactful  teachers  and  parents 
may  accomplish  much  by  friendly  encourage- 
ment, moral  support,  watchful  interest,  un- 
obtrusive guidance,  timely  and  definite  sug- 
gestion, and  a  frank  spirit  of  comradeship. 

4.  "Breaking  the  will"  results  In  open 
rebellion,  or  a  maimed  personality,  a  broken 
spirit. 

5.  The  domestic  warfare  of  the  active, 
independent  boy  must  be  met  by  duly  recog- 
nizing liis  maturing  manhood,  and  retaining 
the  boy's  confidence  at  all  hazards. 


98  BOY  LIFE 

6.  Paternal  surveillance  must  gradually 
give  place  to  frank  trust  in  the  boy's  honor, 
just  as  fast  as  he  proves  worthy  of  it. 

7.  Increasing  freedom  of  action  must 
be  allowed  the  adolescent  boy,  or  urged  upon 
him,  if  he  has  an  "obstructed- will." 

8.  Increasing  range  of  activity  and 
usefulness  must  be  allowed  the  impulsive  boy ; 
or  discovered  for  him,  if  he  lacks  creative 
imagination. 

9.  The  obstructed-will  needs  positive 
development,  by  securing  expression  at  any 
cost,  to  increase  self-confidence  and  initiative. 

10.  The  precipitate  will  of  the  impulsive 
boy  needs  wise  direction  into  useful  chan- 
nels ;  not  forced  repression,  but  the  natural 
checking  by  older  associates  and  sobering 
responsibilities. 

11.  Experience  with  difficulty,  opposi- 
tion and  failure  is  needed,  and  must  be  pur- 
chased as  cheaply  as  possible.  The  impul- 
sive boy  needs  this  most. 

12.  The  incentive  and  exhilaration  of 
well-earned  success  is  needed,  and  will  rapidly 
develop  skilful  initiative.  The  obstructed- 
will  needs  this  most. 

13.  Practice  in  expert  judgment  and 
quick  decisions  is  needed,  to  develop  efficiency 


STRUGGLE  FOR  MANLINESS       99 

and  accuracy.  This  must  be  gained  in  each 
branch,  or  similar  branches  of  activity,  to 
be  serviceable. 

14.  Games  of  skill  requiring  team-play 
as  well  as  leadership,  arousing  healthy  com- 
petition, developing  alertness  of  mind  and 
muscle,  quick  judgment  and  cool  temper,  as 
well  as  many  other  moral  qualities,  offer  the 
most  normal  sort  of  will  practice  for  boys  in 
early  adolescence. 

15.  There  is  a  vast  will-developing  value 
also  in  work.  This  appeals  to  sensible  boys 
throug-h  its  worth  while  results.  It  should 
not  cheat  the  young  boy  of  his  play  pinvi- 
lege  and  curtail  his  childhood,  but  gradually 
it  should  enlist  the  growing  boy's  interest 
and  will  speedily  encourage  self-expression 
and  initiative.  In  early  and  middle  ado- 
lescence a  reasonable  amount  of  manly  work 
develops  manliness,  self-respect  and  personal 
efficiency. 

16.  But  no  boy's  will  is  normal  without 
good-will.  Here  enters  the  distinctly  reli- 
gious phase  of  the  problem.  The  religious 
impulse  of  loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
mightiest  force  to  make  the  boy  manly  and 
to  develop  all  his  personal  powers  for  use- 
fulness in  life. 


100  BOY  LIFE 

As  we  endeavor  to  apply  these  principles, 
we  soon  discover  five  distinct  and  progres- 
sive stages  of  will  achievement:  Self-Control, 
Comradeship,  Personal  Loyalty,  Self-Re- 
liance  and  Leadership.  ,  If  you  please,  these 
are  the  five  degrees  in  modern  knightliness, 
more  significant  than  the  ancient  orders  of 
Page,  Esquire  and  Belted  Knight,  because 
they  are  personal,  not  external.  Progress 
from  stage  to  stage  is  automatic,  as  the  boy 
equips  himself  for  his  task.  In  each  grade 
tlie  growing  manliness  of  the  boy  is  prepar- 
ing by  practice  for  the  responsibilities  to 
come. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  self-control  is  the 
first  essential  in  will  progress.  Without  it 
no  boy  need  dream  of  leadership.  This  diffi- 
cult task  of  controlling  self  is  the  great  work 
of  childhood  with  its  rapidly  forming  habits ; 
though  it  is  seldom  completed  when  child- 
hood ends.  For  years  the  awkward  child 
struggles  for  muscular  coordination  until  he 
is  finally  captain  of  his  ten  fingers  and 
master  of  his  muscles.  The  under  world  of 
inlieritcd  instincts  has  to  be  reckoned  with 
also,  until  right  habits  rule,  and  impulses  are 
put  under  control.  The  fight  is  then  on 
with  the  physical  appetites  and  passions  and 


STRUGGLE  FOR  MANLINESS      101 

until  the  issues  of  this  fight  are  determined, 
it  is  needless  to  think  of  leadership.  Finally 
in  this  process  of  self-mastering,  the  think- 
ing, the  stream  of  consciousness,  is  more  and 
more  brought  under  the  control  of  the  grow- 
ing will,  and  an  orderly  life  purpose  emerges 
from  the  chaos  of  childhood's  dreams.  The 
boy  is  now  discovering  how  to  master  his 
own  personal  resources ;  and  soon  follows  the 
enthronement  of  conscience,  the  moral  goal 
of  childhood  years. 

After  attaining  a  working  capital  in  self- 
control,  the  boy  is  ready  for  the  beginnings 
of  social  adjustment  involved  in  comradeship. 
This  is  a  difficult  step  in  boy  life  and  many 
a  childish  quarrel  results.  It  is  usually 
true  that  childhood  is  so  egoistic  and  often 
so  essentially  selfish,  that  no  real  comrade- 
ship can  be  developed.  The  period  of  the 
discovery  of  The  Chum  really  marks  the 
beginnings  of  altruism  and  sometimes  comes 
as  late  as  puberty.  At  or  near  this  period 
the  gang  spirit  grows  suddenly  strong,  and 
this  loyalt}'^  to  the  gang  is  the  essence  of 
comradeship,  the  consciousness  of  kind ;  the 
wholesome  discovery  of  personal  values  and 
talents  in  other  boys,  as  well  as  the  recogni- 
tion of  common  interests  and  purposes  and 


102  BOY  LIFE 

feelings.      Socially   this   is   the   tribal  period 
of  boyhood,  with  its  primitive  democracy. 

Next,  the  cultivation  of  personal  loyalty 
is  a  normal  outgrowth  of  the  gang-comrade- 
ship. The  gang  normally  develops  a  strong 
leader  who  sets  the  pace,  interprets  the  pub- 
lic opinion  which  is  gang  law,  and  manages 
by  his  own  natural  magnetism  or  shrewdness 
to  focus  the  gang  loyalty  toward  himself, 
until  the  spirit  of  comradeship,  which  was 
so  manifestly  democratic,  is  transmuted  into 
a  genuine  hero  worship,  if  the  leader  be  suffi- 
ciently capable  and  winsome.  To  be  a  good 
follower  is  a  higher  stage  in  will  progress 
than  merely  to  be  a  good  comrade.  It 
requires  that  developed  sense  of  trust  in  a 
strong  character,  and  that  disciplined  obe- 
dience to  recognized  law,  which  connote  a 
higher  stage  of  civilization  than  the  tribal 
commune.  It  is  the  personal  loyalty  of  the 
genuine  monarchy.  This  boyish  hero  wor- 
ship, soon  directed  toward  a  higher  ideal 
than  the  boy  leader,  often  becomes  a  mighty 
idealism,  and,  appealing  as  it  does  to  the 
imitative  instinct,  is  a  tremendous  factor  in 
character  making.  If  you  wonder  why  obe- 
dience is  not  emphasized  here,  reflect  that 
loyalty    is    deeper    than    obedience    and    the 


STRUGGLE  FOR  MANLINESS      103 

ultimate  cause  of  it.  Real  obedience  is  will- 
ing obedience.  Loyalty  is  the  spirit  of 
obedience. 

It  is  by  way  of  this  third  degree  in  will 
progress  that  the  boy  acquires  self-reliance, 
by  imitation,  and  through  the  self-revelation 
which  grows  with  practice  in  daring  the  diffi- 
cult. It  is  a  weary  road,  beset  with  many 
hardships  and  discouragements ;  but  it  is  a 
splendid  test  of  native  knightliness,  and  with 
every  tilt  against  fate  and  circumstances, 
as  well  as  more  tangible  foes,  the  new  man- 
liness gains  fresh  courage,  and  the  self- 
reliance  is  born  which  presages  the  coming 
leader. 

If  a  boy  has  the  making  of  a  leader  in 
him  and  half  a  chance  to  develop  it,  his  own 
sincere  hero  worship  and  spirit  of  loyalty 
will  lead  him  to  the  self-discovery  of  the 
ability  to  lead  others.  Sometimes  it  is  the 
growing  intimacy  with  his  hero  that  brings 
this  self-revelation ;  more  likely  it  is  the 
actual  practice  in  leadership  on  a  small  scale 
which  gives  him  the  needed  sense  of  confi- 
dence and  the  "feel  of  the  reins."  Then 
comes  the  liberation  of  new  and  undreamed- 
of powers.  He  is  attaining  a  real  manli- 
ness.      The      responsibility      of      leadership 


104  BOY  LIFE 

sobers  him,  matures  him,  and  gives  him  a 
new  world  view.  He  gets  a  ghmmer  of  the 
point  of  view  of  father,  teacher,  and  all  the 
disinterested  friends  who  have  tried  to  help 
him  win  his  spurs.  He  can  now  understand 
many  lessons  he  could  see  no  meaning  in 
before.  He  begins  to  see  things  whole  and 
in  their  right  relations.  Having  learned 
the  rudiments  of  leadership,  he  is  now  for 
the  first  time  capable  of  complete  self-gov- 
ernment. The  process  has  been  a  long  and 
rather  tedious  one,  and  the  boy  by  this  time 
may  be  nearly  old  enough  to  vote. 

The  dignity  of  leadership  is  of  course  not 
always  won.  Some  boys  are  obviously  born 
to  be  leaders ;  others,  obviously  not.  Very 
few  have  leadership  thrust  upon  them ;  the 
competition  is  too  fierce.  But  it  is  certainly 
true  that  more  boys  might  become  leaders 
if  they  had  suitable  encouragement  and 
opportunity  for  practice.  It  is  the  privi- 
lege of  Association  secretaries,  pastors  and 
other  adult  boy-workers,  to  furnish  hosts  of 
the  "good  followers"  a  chance  to  develop 
their  initiative  and  responsibility,  until  in 
the  world  of  mature  manhood  they  can 
qualify  as  leaders,  and  win  the  highest  degree 
in  will  achievement. 


STRUGGLE  FOR  MANLINESS      105 

For  most  boys,  as  our  chapter  title  indi- 
cates, this  attainment  of  manliness  is  not 
the  mere  pastime  of  a  summer  holiday.  It  is 
a  struggle.  Rather  it  is  a  splendid  victory 
won  through  struggle.  The  battle  royal 
of  life  is  the  moral  conflict  in  the  breast  of 
a  noble-hearted  boy ;  a  battle  waged  with 
the  Apollyon  of  temptation  for  many  stren- 
uous years,  until  right  habits  become  fixed 
in  Christian  character.  The  winning  of 
this  victory  is  no  mere  chess  game  of  cold 
logic  or  bloodless  psychology.  It  is  a 
matter  of  religion,  a  man's  religion.  Temp- 
tations must  come.  The  boy  needs  to  face 
them.  Strong  young  manhood  is  seldom 
grown  in  the  protecting  shade  of  a  sheltered 
life.  The  battle  cannot  be  shirked  and 
character  won.  It  must  be  faced  and 
fought. 

In  this  struggle  for  character — unseen, 
smokeless,  noiseless,  but  momentous — the 
boj'  needs  friendship,  constant,  sympathetic, 
discerning  friendship ;  but  above  all,  he  must 
be  on  friendly  terms  with  Jesus  Christ.  Give 
him  the  great  protection  of  the  Christ  love, 
the  high  incentive  of  the  Christ  ideals,  the 
mighty  impulse  of  the  Christian  purpose, 
the  Christ  loyalty,  with  the  brotherly  com- 


106  BOY  LIFE 

radeship  of  the  Christian  Church — and  you 
have  armed  him  with  all  the  panoply  of  God. 
He  will  win  his  fight.  He  will  win  in  the 
struggle  for  manliness. 

We  naturally  turn  next  to  the  social 
organizations  which  help  the  boy  to  develop 
these  five  stages  in  will  progress ;  giving  our 
attention  first  to  the  boy's  own  spontaneous 
attempts  at  organization  and  social  expres- 
sion. 


CHAPTER  VI 

BOY  MADE   SOCIETIES 

In  the  ascent  of  the  will  from  self-control 
to  leadership,  the  organized  social  effort  of 
boys  for  and  by  themselves  is  infinitely  more 
serviceable  than  most  organizations  foisted 
upon  them  by  adults.  The  very  word  tells 
why.  The  only  true  organization  is  self- 
organization.  Organization  is  a  biological 
term,  and  refers  to  life  and  growth.  It  is 
the  mode  of  activity  and  development  natural 
to  an  organism,  and  its  form  is  determined 
by  growth  from  within. 

Let  even  intelligent  adults  prescribe  a 
form  of  activity  for  children,  and  it  will 
inevitably  reflect  the  grown-up's  world,  his 
conceptions,  his  stock  of  ideas  and  range  of 
ideals.  It  will  embody  adult  notions  of 
what  is  right,  interesting  and  worth  while. 
Unfortunately  it  is  easy  to  get  the  trusting 
and  plastic  minds  of  children  to  adopt  these 
adult  plans  for  their  happiness  and  welfare ; 
and  consequently  there  is  great  danger  of 
raising  up  whole  generations  of  little  men 
and  women,  instead  of  normal  children  who 


108  BOY  LIFE 

reap,  as  they  grow,  their  rightful  share  of 
the  wonderful  harvests  of  childhood.  In 
fact  it  has  been  until  recently  our  avowed 
but  mischievous  policy  to  make  "nice  little 
men  out  of  the  noisy,  boisterous  boys !" 
Forcing  our  adult  plans  upon  the  children 
tends  of  course  to  stunt  their  originality  and 
diminish  their  initiative.  The  danger  nat- 
urally diminishes  as  the  boys  grow  older, 
and  their  world  merges  into  the  world 
of  adults.  Consequently  blundering  adult 
made  plans  for  older  boys  are  somewhat  less 
disastrous. 

It  usually  follows,  however,  that  boys  will 
organize  themselves  into  more  or  less  in- 
formal groups,  anyhow,  with  or  without  the 
attention  of  adults ;  and  these  groups  of 
their  own  have  the  greatest  influence  upon 
their  character  making.  Parallel  with  the 
most  elaborate  social  organization,  planned 
and  administered  for  the  boys  by  well-mean- 
ing adults,  you  will  often  find  some  of  the 
same  boys  banded  together  in  the  more  pre- 
cious comradeship  of  a  gang  of  their  own ; 
an  irresponsible  free-masonry  in  somebody's 
barn  attic,  or  a  freebooters'  gang  whose 
most  laudable  purpose  is  the  "swiping"  of 
sign  letters  or  the  smashing  of  window  panes. 


BOY  MADE  SOCIETIES  109 

Professor  Scott  of  the  Boston  Normal 
School  in  speaking  of  school  discipline  sug- 
gests this  fact:  "The  average  school  is 
often  merely  an  aggregate.  There  is  every 
reason  why  the  teacher  should  aim  to  or- 
ganize this  aggregate.  In  no  other  way 
can  he  really  become  the  leader.  But  when 
this  is  not  done,  the  aggregate  does  not 
remain  in  a  neutral  condition.  Organiza- 
tion sets  in  independently  of  the  teacher.  It 
is  not  always  fully  conscious  of  itself,  but  it 
is  none  the  less  influential.  Certain  boys 
and  girls  are  looked  up  to  by  the  others  for 
indications  as  to  how  far  the  class  as  a  whole 
may  go  in  opposition  to  the  teacher.  Some- 
times there  are  chiefs  for  war  and  chiefs  for 
peace.  When  a  teacher  runs  against  such 
a  chief,  it  is  no  longer  an  individual  he  is 
dealing  with ;  and  even  when  he  finds  fault 
with  some  humbler  member  of  the  tribe,  un- 
less the  chief  consents  to  ignore  or  condone 
the  treatment  given,  the  teacher  may  meet 
with  as  much  difficulty  and  silent  antago- 
nism as  if  the  individual  had  been  socially 
important.  The  flag  of  the  tribe  protects 
its  feeblest  member !  "  ^ 

The  same  excellent  authority  states  as  his 

1  "Social  Education."  p.  94. 


no  BOY  LIFE 

opinion  that  fifty  per  cent  of  the  higher 
grade  classes  in  our  public  schools  are  thus 
at  war  with  the  teacher.  This  seems  an 
over-estimate.  It  suggests  the  former  days 
when  a  teacher  had  to  whip  the  gang  leader 
in  personal  combat  before  he  could  maintain 
discipline  in  the  school.^  The  power  of  the 
self-organized  gang  is  far-reaching.  It  is 
pretty  sure  to  create  the  public  opinion  by 
which  the  boys  govern  their  conduct,  rather 
than  by  the  standards  of  the  home  or  of  the 
teacher.  Such  an  education  in  hostility  to 
the  orderly  forces  of  society,  as  represented 
in  the  teacher,  and  perhaps  also  the  police- 
man, is  a  most  unfortunate  training  for  boys. 
It  is  training  in  social  anarchy,  and  is  the 
very  worst  preparation  for  citizenship. 
This  reveals  to  us  the  grave  importance  of 
the  whole  matter  of  discipline  as  a  funda- 
mental factor  in  boys'  work. 

The  key  to  this  grave  situation,  undoubt- 
edly, is  to  study  the  forms,  purposes  and 
methods  of  the  organizations  in  which  boys 
spontaneously  organize,   and  then   approxi- 


1  1  remember  hearing:  my  grandfather  describe  a  certain  strcn 
uous  session  in  his  New  England  district  school  in  his  boyhood 
accnturyago.  The  schoolmaster  interrupted  his  opening  prayer 
three  times  that  morning  to  flog  a  boy  1  "  The  gang  "  is  not  nec- 
essarily a  modem  invention;  it  is  merely  a  modern  discovery. 


BOY  MADE  SOCIETIES  111 

mate  these  in  our  work  with  them.  The 
boys  themselves  must  give  us  the  cue.  It  is 
certainly  true  that  the  adult  plans  for  boys' 
work  which  are  tlie  result  of  most  careful 
study  of  boy  life  are  inevitably  the  plans 
which  have  attained  the  largest  success.  It 
is  equally  true  that  clubs  in  which  boys  are 
given  an  increasing  degree  of  self-direction 
and  initiative,  appropriate  to  their  age  and 
progress,  are  the  clubs  which  have  yielded 
the  largest  results  in  developing  responsi- 
bility and  character. 

This  brings  us  to  the  necessity  for  a  care- 
ful analysis  of  spontaneous  organizations 
among  boys. 

The  impulse  which  causes  these  organiza- 
tions comes  of  course  from  the  gregarious 
instinct,  the  desire  for  comradeship  and  the 
consciousness  of  kind.  The  boy  of  ten  or  a 
dozen  summers,  who  has  attained  a  reason- 
able measure  of  self-control  in  childhood, 
hungers  for  the  comradeship  of  real  bo}'- 
hood.  He  longs  for  more  worlds  to  con- 
quer; for  a  chance  to  develop  the  second 
stage  in  his  will  achievement. 

Heretofore  his  base  of  operations  has  been 
the  home.  But  the  radius  of  the  home  circle 
is  too  short ;  it  offers  too  meagre  opportu- 


112  BOY  LIFE 

nitles  for  social  development,  so  he  goes  a 
hunting  for  chums.  This  necessity  is  of 
course  more  acute  in  the  modern  small  family 
than  it  was  in  the  patriarchal  households  of 
a  few  generations  ago.  The  latter  offered 
great  facility  for  practice  in  social  adjust- 
ment within  the  home  circle  to  the  mutual 
advantage  of  its  members.  The  widening 
interests  of  the  modern  boy,  in  the  family 
of  only  two  or  three  children,  soon  force  him 
to  look  over  the  back  fence  for  playmates, 
and  ere  long  lead  him  farther  and  farther 
abroad  for  chums,  till  he  gleefully  joins,  first 
a  clannish  little  clique,  and  later  a  truly 
barbaric  tribal  gang. 

His  natural  yearning  for  his  own  kind  can 
of  course  not  be  satisfied  long  at  home,  and  it 
is  well  that  he  goes.  As  Dr.  Forbush  says : 
"Out  among  his  peers  God  intends  that  he 
should  go,  to  give  and  take,  to  mitigate  his 
own  selfishness  and  to  gain  the  masculine 
standpoint  which  his  mother,  his  nurse,  and 
his  school  teacher  cannot  give ;  and  to  exer- 
cise a  new  power,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
precious  ever  given  to  man,  that  of  making 
friendships."  ^ 

Only   recently  have   we   rightly   estimated 

1  "The  Boy  Problem,"  p.  23. 


BOY  MADE  SOCIETIES  113 

the  character  making  power  of  the  gang. 
It  is  not  necessarily  an  invention  of  the  devil, 
as  our  mothers  used  to  think;  though  the 
devil  finds  it  a  very  useful  instrument  if  we 
give  him  half  a  chance.  The  gang  renders 
a  valuable  service  in  boy  life.  It  is  what 
saves  the  boy  from  ladylike  fastidiousness, 
from  effeminacy,  from  self-conceit.  It  helps 
him  outgrow  the  distorted  conceptions  of  his 
little  child  world,  so  narrow  and  self-cen- 
tered. The  boy  who  does  not  get  the  altru- 
istic practice  of  the  gang  is  too  likely  to 
develop  ultra-selfishness  out  of  the  egoism 
so  natural  to  childhood.  He  is  rather  sure 
to  lack  in  courage,  in  capacity  for  difficult 
undertakings,  and  in  rough  and  ready  viril- 
ity and  "gumption."  The  gang  teaches  the 
young  fop  that  clothes  do  not  make  the  man. 
It  teaches  the  young  mollycoddle  that  man- 
ners onl}^  seem  to  make  the  man ;  and  the 
young  aristocrat,  that  wealth  and  blue  blood 
can  never  make  the  man.  The  gang  when 
it  has  the  chance  teaches  essential  and  vigor- 
ous democracy  to  the  dweller  in  the  brown- 
stone  front.  It  gives  the  boy  practice  in 
agility  and  watchfulness,  and  teaches  him 
to  take  care  of  himself  in  a  crowd.  Such 
self-respect   as   is   maintained  by   the   handy 


114  BOY  LIFE 

use  of  his  fists,  he  is  likely  to  have  plenty  of 
chance  to  develop.  The  liollow  pretensions 
of  deceit  and  sham,  and  the  essence  of  gen- 
uineness and  reality,  the  gang  is  sure  to 
teach  hlin,  with  many  another  lesson  of 
fundamental  manliness.  He  may  be  just  as 
good  a  boy,  but  less  of  a  goody-goody  boy, 
after  the  gang  gets  through  with  him;  at 
least,  he  will  be  a  real  boy,  not  too  much  like 
his  sister.  There  may  be  brutal  tendencies 
in  the  gang;  there  often  are  criminal  ten- 
dencies ;  and  sometimes  even  vicious  ten- 
dencies, which  are  far  worse.  But  this  is 
simply  saying  there  is  life  in  the  gang. 
Whether  the  boys  become  white-cross  knights 
or  mere  banditti,  depends  mainly  upon  the 
leader,  the  key-boy  who  precipitates,  and 
even  personifies,  public  opinion. 

But  notice,  please,  that  usually  the  gang's 
worst  evils  are  exaggerations  of  its  strength, 
and  its  greatest  danger,  low  ideals  of  man- 
liness. But  recall  also  that  this  was  exactly 
the  trouble  with  the  patriarchal  tribal  life 
of  Old  Testament  times.  It  is  a  normal 
stage,  which  will  be  speedily  outgrown,  given 
the  right  leadership,  and  sympathetic,  pa- 
tient comradeship.  Its  dangers  are  not  to 
be  underestimated  or  ignored ;  but  the  whole- 


BOY  MADE  SOCIETIES  115 

some  boy,  with  some  true  man  for  a  Big 
Brother,  will  come  through  this  tribal  stage 
unscathed;  all  the  stronger  for  his  gang- 
experience,  infinitely  more  manly,  and  better 
fitted  to  live  his  Hfe  in  the  world  of  men. 

The  aims  and  purposes  of  the  boy  made 
societies  will  depend  directly  upon  the  boys' 
life  interests.  The  gang  is  the  inevitable 
outlet  for  the  boy's  surplus  energy,  along 
the  line  of  his  greatest  interest  for  the 
moment.  It  is  his  own  hand-made  medium 
for  self-expression.  Doubtless  it  is  the 
safety  valve  which  saves  him  from  bursting. 
If  the  gang  in  the  back  yard  makes  our  ears 
ache,  let  us  reflect  that  a  safety  valve  is  not 
to  be  blamed  for  being  noisy.  The  quiet 
safety  valve  and  the  silent,  moody  boy,  are 
fraught  with  similar  dangers  of  approach- 
ing volcanic  disturbances.     Beware  of  both! 

Dr.  Henry  D.  Sheldon's  article  in  the 
American  Journal  of  Psychology  on  "The 
Institutional  Activities  of  American  Chil- 
dren" is  still  the  best  available  classification 
of  boys'  spontaneous  clubs.  He  obtained 
1022  responses  from  boys  of  ten  to  seven- 
teen years  of  age,  862  of  whom  were  mem- 
bers   of    such    gangs    or    boy    made    clubs. 


116  BOY  LIFE 

Sixty-four  were  members  of  more  than  one 
club. 

Of  the  623  societies  of  which  he  obtained 
careful  description — 

1^%  were  philanthropic  societies. 

3^%  were  secret,  at  least  in  part. 

i^%  were  purely  social  for  "good  times." 

il%  were  literary,  musical  or  artistic. 

li%    were  minor  clubs,  mostly  of  a  quiet  nature. 

S^%  were  industrial  organizations,  with  a  variety  of 
aims. 

17;?  were  frankly  predatory  clubs,  for  hunting,  fight- 
ing, tramping,  etc. ;  the  typical  street  gang. 

61^    were  game  clubs,  mainly  athletic. 

86^    were  for  various  active  interests. 

Thirteen  was  the  age  of  the  maximum  club 
activity ;  though  from  ten  to  fifteen  it  was 
fairly  steady ;  declining  at  sixteen,  probably 
because  of  changing  interest,  particularly 
the  interest  in  the  other  sex  and  in  adult 
made  societies  for  older  boys. 

Dr.  Sheldon's  investigations  proved  that 
boys  and  girls  after  ten  and  under  seventeen 
have  divergent  interests,  and  almost  never 
organize  together. 

The  girls  organize  three  times  as  many 
secret  societies  as  boys ;  and  three  times  as 


BOY  MADE  SOCIETIES  117 

many  literary  and  industrial  societies 
(mainly  sewing).  They  report  five  times 
as  many  social  and  twice  as  many  philan- 
thropic societies — due  in  part  to  the  lack 
of  athletic  interests  for  girls.  Physical 
activity  was  the  attraction  in  only  ten  per 
cent  of  the  girls'  clubs,  as  compared  with 
seventy-seven  per  cent  of  the  boys'  organi- 
zations. This  will  doubtless  be  less  true  in 
the  future.  Dr.  Sheldon  says  in  compari- 
son: "Girls  are  more  nearly  governed  by 
adult  motives  than  boys.  They  organize  to 
promote  sociability,  to  advance  their  in- 
terests, to  improve  themselves  and  others. 
Boys  are  nearer  to  primitive  man :  they 
associate  to  hunt,  fish,  roam,  fight,  and  to 
contest  physical  superiority  with  each  other." 
But  boys'  clubs  are  apt  to  be  creatures 
of  a  single  summer.  They  lack  the  time 
perspective  and  the  test  of  continuous  in- 
fluence which  we  should  like  to  see.  If  in 
our  study  of  boy  life,  we  could  discover  a 
modern  boy  colony,  with  a  distinct  social  life 
of  its  own,  continuing  through  a  series  of 
years,  isolated  from  cities  and  free  from 
adult  interference,  how  delighted  we  should 
be!     Then  we  should  be  able  to  studv  boys 


118  BOY  LIFE 

in  a  true  boy's  world,  and  watch  the  activi- 
ties of  the  unfettered  boy  will.  Then  we 
could  discover  how  boys,  untrammeled  by 
adult  notions  and  customs,  would  develop 
naturally  such  social  and  economic  customs 
of  their  own  as  their  needs  required.  Then, 
too,  we  might  see  clearly  whether  or  not  the 
influence  of  race  habit  would  work  out,  and 
the  modern  boy  really  recapitulate  the  prog- 
ress of  the  race.  Such  a  self-governing  boy 
world,  if  we  could  discover  it,  would  also 
teach  us  many  things  about  our  subject  of 
self-government  in  boy  life. 

Our  next  chapter  will  introduce  us  to  just 
such  a  boy  colony,  a  little  world  of  its  own, 
where  for  more  than  a  generation,  boy  life 
has  developed  in  reasonable  freedom ;  and 
our  study  of  it  will  reveal  just  these  points 
of  interest  mentioned  above. 


CHAPTER  VII 

RUDIMENTARY   SOCIETY  AMONG  BOYS 

A  study  of  genuine  boy  sociology,  apart 
from  the  restraining  and  preponderating 
influence  of  adults,  is  seldom  possible.  Per- 
haps as  good  an  illustration  as  could  rea- 
sonably be  expected  is  found  at  the  Mc- 
Donogh  School  in  Maryland.  It  is  a  very 
normal  type  of  spontaneous  social  develop- 
ment among  boys  in  early  and  middle  ado- 
lescence, and  therefore  furnishes  a  valuable 
contribution  to  our  study  of  boy  life  and  self- 
government.  For  the  details  of  information 
regarding  the  school  which  are  utilized  in 
this  interpretation,  we  are  indebted  to  Mr 
Sidney  T.  Moreland,  the  courteous  and  effi- 
cient principal  at  McDonogh,  and  Dr.  J. 
Hemsley  Johnson,  whose  illuminating  and 
discriminating  thesis  on  the  subject  is  a  val- 
uable addition  to  boy  science,  from  which  we 
quote  freely  in  this  chapter. 

The  McDonogh  School,  with  its  ample 
farm  and  forest  of  eight  hundred  acres,  is 
located  among  the  low-lying  fertile  hills 
northwest  of  Baltimore.     Here  a  wise  phil- 


120  BOY  LIFE 

anthrop3'  is  being  most  tactfully  adminis- 
tered, for  the  benefit  of  a  hundred  and  fifty 
boys,  who  are  allowed,  particularly  during 
recreation  hours,  considerable  scope  for  their 
untramnieled  activity  and  ingenuity.  With 
unusual  foresight  the  head  of  this  institution 
has  avoided  the  evil  of  "institutionalizing" 
liis  boys,  which  is  all  too  common  under  such 
conditions.  Their  school  and  farm  duties 
must  of  course  be  faithfully  attended  to,  and 
they  are  kept  orderly  and  respectable  by  a 
reasonable  and  unobtrusive  exercise  of 
authority ;  but  they  are  given  the  hills  and 
woods  to  roam  over  at  will  during  their 
hours  of  freedom  from  routine,  and  have 
been  allowed  to  use  the  woods  as  their  own 
possession.  The  teachers  have  consistently 
declined  to  interfere  with  the  play  life  of 
the  boys  and  consequently  the  customs  and 
unwritten  laws  which  in  the  course  of  stu- 
dent generations  have  grown  up  at  Mc- 
Donogh  to  regulate  the  inner  life  of  this 
interesting  colony,  and  their  unfettered  use 
of  their  800  acres  of  Eden,  form  a  most 
enlightening  chapter  in  the  annals  of  boy 
life. 

On  entering  the  school,  the  boys  are  young 


RUDIMENTARY  SOCIETY         121 

enough  to  be  quite  unsophisticated  in  civil- 
ized customs,  so  that  their  evolution  of  social 
restraints  may  be  considered  original.  We 
may  rightly  expect,  therefore,  that  a  study 
of  this  experience  at  McDonogh  will  reveal 
to  us  the  way  boys  by  themselves  naturally 
regulate  the  vexed  question  of  land  owner- 
ship and  control ;  how  they  go  about  to  legis- 
late for  the  peace  and  welfare  and  justice 
of  their  free  community ;  how  they  execute 
the  law  and  administer  justice;  and  how  they 
develop  the  rudiments  of  economics,  such  as 
mediums  of  exchange  and  a  banking  system. 
Each  of  these  items  Dr.  Johnson  has  faith- 
fully reported,  and  the  striking  fact  is  made 
constantly  evident  that  the  boys,  sponta- 
neously developing  these  social  customs  in 
an  isolated  nook  in  a  modern  civilized  society, 
have  unwittingly  reproduced  the  identical 
stages  of  development  which  the  race,  in  its 
various  ethnological  periods  of  culture,  has 
laboriously  been  developing  through  the  cen- 
turies. We  have  here  then  the  culture- 
epochs  theory  practically  worked  out  in  the 
social  and  economic  realm. 

Let  us   examine  first   the  matter  of  land 
tenure. 


122  BOY  LIFE 

When  the  McDonogh  School  was  first 
opened,  the  bo3's  were  few  in  number,  barely 
a  dozen,  and  the  800  acres  seemed  a  vast, 
limitless  storehouse  of  unattached  wealth,  so 
boundless  that  a  dozen  boys  could  make  little 
inroad  upon  it.  There  were  plenty  of  rab- 
bits and  nuts  and  squirrels  and  birds'  eggs 
for  all,  without  crowding  anybody.  Doubt- 
less for  this  reason,  there  was  no  thought 
of  private  ownership  and  the  land  was  con- 
sidered a  communal  possession,  in  which  all 
the  boys  had  equal  and  undivided  rights. 
This  condition  of  primitive  blessedness  is 
of  course  parallel  to  the  halcyon  days  of  the 
prehistoric  Communal  Period  of  the  race, 
when  people  were  few  and  land  a  plenty,  and 
everybody,  therefore,  owned  it  all !  It  is 
difficult  to  get  up  a  quarrel  among  children 
playing  on  the  boundless  ocean  beach. 
There  are  too  many  million  grains  of  sand. 
For  this  reason,  in  the  Aryan  villages  in  the 
East,  as  well  as  in  ancient  Italy,  Germany, 
Peru,  Mexico  and  China,  "land  was  not  con- 
ceived of  as  property  in  the  modern  sense, 
or   as  belonging   to   any   individual,"  ^   until 


1  Phear  "The  Aryan  Village  in  India  and  Ceylon,"  p.  236;  also 
De  Laveleye.  "  Primitive  Property,"  p.  2. 


RUDIMENTARY  SOCIETY         123 

numbers  increased  and  land  rights  became 
crowded  and  division  became  necessary. 

It  is  interesting  to  see  how  the  McDon- 
ogh  boys  next  evolved  the  second  stage  in 
land  tenure,  temporary  individual  owner- 
ship, through  the  periodic  redistribution  of 
the  land.  This  was  exactly  true  to  the 
primitive  custom,  as  developed  in  ancient 
Germany  (see  Tacitus)  and  England  ^  and 
still  practiced  in  the  primitive  communal  vil- 
lages of  Russia."  Recall  also  the  Jewish 
custom  of  redistribution  of  landed  property 
in  the  Jubilee  year.^  In  these  primitive  vil- 
lages in  Russia  the  land  is  still  owned  by  the 
entire  community  but  regularly  the  arable 
land  and  meadow  is  alloted  proportionately 
to  the  needs  of  the  different  families  of  the 
village. 

At  McDonogh  the  boys  for  all  practical 
purposes  divided  the  land  annually,  after  the 
increased  numbers  began  to  cause  embarrass- 
ment and  frequent  quarrels.  During  their 
leisure  hours  the  boys  were  in  the  business 
of  gathering  nuts  and  other  trophies  of  the 
harvest  time.     In  the  spring,  it  was  birds' 


1  Sir  Henry  Maine,  "  Village  Communities,"  p.  82. 

2  Wallace,  "Russia,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  207. 
S  Leviticus,  ch.  25. 


124  BOY  LIFE 

nests  and  eggs ;  in  the  winter,  rabbit  and 
muskrat  trapping,  et  cetera.  We  must 
remember  that  this  for  the  boys  was  the 
serious  work  of  life.  The  farm  work  and 
the  studj'ing  were  merely  incidental,  simply 
the  chores  of  life — the  drudgery  that  was 
the  price  they  had  to  pay  for  their  subse- 
quent freedom.  Their  real  life,  with  its 
vital  interests  and  issues,  was  the  life  of  their 
own  initiative  and  freedom  from  restraints, 
the  restraints  of  adult  leadership. 

For  instance,  in  the  matter  of  the  nut 
harvest,  they  gradually  developed  the  pecu- 
liar custom  of  seizing  individual  trees  for  the 
fruits  thereof  and  regulating  this  act  of 
force  by  a  scheme  which  was  more  than  a 
semblance  of  justice,  a  scheme  which  really 
sprang  from  and  satisfied  the  boy's  instinct 
for  fair  play.  To  prevent  the  wholesale 
annexation  of  the  forest  by  the  greedy,  a 
definite  time  for  the  beginning  of  the  harvest 
was  mutually  determined  and,  beginning  the 
following  midnight,  the  boys  who  were  most 
alert,  wide  awake  and  vigorous,  gained  law- 
fully the  rights  of  ownership  in  the  nut  trees 
by  running  to  the  woods,  climbing  the 
choicest  trees  and  shaking  down  the  fruit. 
Custom  forbade  any  boy  to  seize  the  prod- 


RUDIMENTARY  SOCIETY         125 

uct  of  another's  labor.  He  must  pile  the 
nuts  then  on  the  ground  which  had  been 
brought  down  by  another  before  he  might 
do  his  own  shaking  and  harvesting.  Conse- 
quently, as  it  was  easier  to  work  a  fresh  tree 
than  to  pile  another  boy's  nuts,  the  first 
shaker  usually  obtained  the  use  of  that  par- 
ticular tree  for  that  year,  so  far  as  the  nuts 
were  concerned.  This  did  not  mean  perma- 
nent ownership,  but  merely  temporary  rights 
which  lasted  until  the  next  harvest  brought 
its  own  redivision  of  the  spoils ;  a  truly 
primitive,  communal  custom,  as  in  the  child- 
hood days  of  the  race.^ 

Similarly  by  the  labeling  of  trees  contain- 
ing birds'  nests  or  other  trophies,  and  by  the 
temporar}'^  control  of  the  best  land  frequented 
by  rabbits,  under  the  mutual  agreement  of 
"squatter  sovereignty"  for  traps,  to  the 
distance  of  forty  yards,  the  same  develop- 
ment took  place  with  perfect  naturalness. 
All  titles  expired  by  limitation  at  the  end  of 


1  The  latest  word  from  McDonogh  reports  slight  changes  in 
this  custom.  Walnut  Day  is  now  a  fixed  holiday,  the  Monday 
after  the  first  Saturday  in  October.  The  rush  for  the  trees  is 
made  after  breakfast  instead  of  midnight,  the  boys  forming  in 
two  lines  on  either  side  of  the  dining  room  and  starting  at  the 
firing  of  a  pistol.  The  gathering  of  bird's  eggs  and  capturing 
wild  animals  for  pets  have  been  tabooed  for  some  time. 


126  BOY  LIFE 

the  season.  They  thus  conserved  the  ancient 
rights  of  the  commune  to  the  ownership  of 
all  the  land.  They  thus  secured  a  fairly 
reasonable  division  of  the  land  for  the  sea- 
son, in  which  individual  enterprise,  ability, 
skill  and  sacrifice  were  suitably  rewarded. 
They  recognized  the  fundamental  principle 
of  justice — to  the  laborer  belongs  the  fruit 
of  his  toil.  Sir  Henry  Maine  states  that 
"there  appears  to  be  no  country  inhabited 
by  an  Aryan  race  in  which  traces  do  not 
remain  of  the  ancient  periodic  redistribution 
of  the  land."  ^  It  was  doubtless  true  all 
through  the  feudal  period  when  many  people 
lived  in  walled  towns  and  did  their  farming 
in  the  outlying  fields. 

The  periodic  redistribution  or  communal 
land  was  the  natural  step  leading  to  perma- 
nent private  ownership,  by  the  encroach- 
ment of  the  strongest  and  the  shrewdest. 
On  the  ruins  of  common  property,  ownership 
in  severalty  was  soon  established  at  Mc- 
Donogh.  Still  keeping  within  the  letter  of 
the  law,  the  shrewd  older  boys  retained  their 
allotted  portions  and  gathered  more,  com- 
bining the  force  of  personality  with  the 
power  of  accumulated  capital ;  and  ere  long 

1  "  V'illa^e  Communities,"  p.  82. 


RUDIMENTARY  SOCIETY         127 

the  equal  rights  of  all  to  the  woods  and  game 
were  forgotten.  For  instance,  the  rabbit 
traps  were  left  in  the  woods  through  the 
summer  and  were  easily  reset  next  January, 
thus  retaining  the  same  land  continuously, 
until  finally  the  claim  was  not  contested. 
Partnerships  were  enlarged,  poor  retainers 
were  hired  to  assist  in  the  harvesting  and  the 
trapping,  Avith  the  simple  reward  of  a  mess 
of  rabbit  pottage,  and  thus  the  stronger  boys 
gained  the  permanent,  individual  ownership 
of  the  land  and  the  trees.  The  newly  in- 
vented custom  of  devise,  by  wills,  when  the 
landlords  left  the  school  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen, clinched  the  matter  and  made  perma- 
nent this  ownership  in  severalty. 

Land  Monopoly.  The  tendencies  just 
described  soon  resulted  in  land  monopoly, 
at  McDonogh,  as  elsewhere.  In  the  primi- 
tive village,  the  great  warrior  or  the  man 
of  thrift,  soon  accumulated  rights  to  land, 
by  purchase,  by  strategy,  by  force  and  by 
legacy ;  often  in  combination  with  a  few 
others,  who  thus  speedily  became  the  landed 
aristocracy  of  the  village.  Evidently  follow- 
ing the  racial  instinct,  these  McDonogh  boys 
did  the  same ;  and  quickly  the  most  of  the 
land  was  possessed  by  a  few.      All  the  best 


los  BOY  LIFE 

rabbit  land  was  controlled  by  three  boys, 
who  had  combined  in  early  autumn  to  make 
fifty  traps  and  set  them  at  intervals  over 
all  the  finest  rabbit  tract.  This  trick  of  the 
greedy  was  strictly  within  the  letter  of  the 
law,  though  abrogating  the  original  purpose 
and  spirit  of  it.  The  buncoed  majority  had 
no  recourse  except  to  force;  and  the  greedy 
were  strong,  Avell  organized,  more  mature ; 
and  overawed  their  plundered  rivals.  Be- 
sides, did  they  not  have  the  moral  support 
of  having  obtained  their  property  by  legal 
right  ? 

Thus  individual  ownership  was  abused  and 
made  permanent  and  monopolistic.  As  usual, 
the  odds  were  all  on  the  side  of  Capital! 
This  soon  discouraged  com^  .jtition  and 
nearly  everybody  went  out  of  the  rabbit  busi- 
ness, making  no  claim  to  rabbit  land.  A 
few  with  the  rabbit  habit  subserviently 
trotted  around  for  the  rabbit  lords  and 
tended  the  traps  for  pay.  Is  it  not  always 
thus,  when  a  trust  is  formed.'*  The  small 
manufacturer  has  to  go  to  work  for  the  cor- 
poration which  has  monopolized  the  only 
business  he  knows ! 

But  hard  luck  is  the  best  incentive  to 
invention.       Losing  the  rabbit  land  aroused 


RUDIMENTARY  SOCIETY         129 

ingenuity.  If  the  rabbit  business  had  not 
been  monopohzcd,  it  is  doubtful  if  any  boy 
would  ever  have  promoted  the  muskrat 
industry!  But  learning  shrewdness  from 
once  getting  "stung,"  the  muskrat  trappers 
launched  their  industry  a  full-blown  trust. 
Six  of  them,  and  the  largest  boys  in  school 
at  that,  secured  the  franchise  of  practically 
all  the  available  muskrat  land  along  the 
borders  of  the  brook.  No  attempt  was 
made  to  resist  them  or  to  challenge  their 
rights.  Thus  the  collective  ownership  in 
the  land  was  forgotten  and  private  owner- 
ship and  monopoly  were  developed. 

Doubtless  testamentary  rights  had  much 
to  do  with  it  both  in  Boyville  and  in  primi- 
tive society.  The  "last  will  and  testament" 
is  a  comparatively  modern  invention. 
"Primitive  nations,"  said  De  Laveleye, 
"could  not  understand  how  the  mere  wish 
of  an  individual,  taking  effect  after  his 
death,  could  decide  the  ownership  of  prop- 
erty." ^  Among  the  ancient  Irish,  the 
custom  was  made  permanent,  largely  by  the 
influence  of  the  Church.  In  Bengal,  wills 
were    not    introduced    until    after    English 

1  "Primitive  Property,"  p.  178. 


130  BOY  LIFE 

sovereignty  came,  with  the  break-up  of  the 
village   system. 

In  this  interesting  evolution  of  boy  society 
we  next  discover  the  rise  of  a  Socialistic 
Party  clamoring  for  a  redistribution  of  the 
land!  This  stage  in  land  tenure  brings  us 
down  to  date,  and  this  very  thing  inevitably 
happened  at  McDonogh ;  probably  because 
it  was  "human  nature"  as  we  say,  that  it 
must  happen,  under  the  given  circumstances. 
What  is  this  but  saying  that  the  racial 
instincts  in  the  boys,  which  told  them  auto- 
matically just  what  the  race  had  done  when 
confronted  by  these  circumstances,  impelled 
them,  to  do  likewise?  Mr.  Johnson  tells  us 
that  since  monopoly  developed  at  McDon- 
ogh, an  agrarian  revolution  has  at  various 
times  been  threatened,  by  certain  restless 
spirits  who  have  caviled  at  the  greed  of 
the  landed  aristocracy,  in  spite  of  their  long- 
established  rights.  Envy  of  the  prosperous 
caused  the  rise  of  a  socialistic  party  demand- 
ing that  every  new  boy  entering  school 
should  have  an  equal  share  with  those 
already  there,  "The  land  belongs  to  all 
of  us.  Every  boy  here  has  the  right  to 
catch  rabbits.  Boys  that  leave  school  have 
no   right   to   give   away   their   land.      It   be- 


RUDIMENTARY  SOCIETY         131 

longs  to  those  who  come  to  take  their  places. 
We  are  forty-seven  to  three.  We  must 
combine  and  force  these  robbers  to  divide." 
This  platform  has  a  wonderfully  familiar 
sound! 

But  the  recapitulation  process  goes  still 
farther.  The  monopolists,  with  the  shrewd- 
ness of  their  kind,  threw  a  sop  to  quiet  the 
leaders  of  the  mob.  They  gave  away  some 
of  the  least  productive  land  to  leaders  of 
the  noisy  agrarian  party.  The  effect  was 
not  lasting,  however.  Sops  never  last. 
The  socialists  returned  to  the  attack  later, 
when  the  three  land  monopolists  conspired 
to  will  all  their  land  to  one  boy.  This  over- 
reaching was  the  expiring  folly  of  the  Bour- 
bon dynasty.  Under  compulsion  of  an 
enraged  pubHc  sentiment,  the  land  was 
finally  divided  among  about  eight  owners 
by  rightful  sale.  And  about  this  time  the 
socialistic  demagogue,  with  characteristic 
disinterestedness,  got  into  the  muskrat 
Industry  "on  the  ground  floor";  and  the 
zeal  of  the  reformers  died  of  prosperity. 

The  close  parallel  between  the  sponta- 
neous evolution  of  the  five  stages  of  land 
tenure,  on  the  part  of  these  Isolated  Ameri- 
can boys,   and  the   similar  evolution  in  the 


132  BOY  LIFE 

economic  history  of  the  race,  is  a  rather 
clear  substantiation  of  the  theory  of  the 
culture  epochs :  beginning  with  the  commu- 
nal ownership  of  the  land,  then  successively 
passing  through  temporary  individual  own- 
ership with  periodic  redistribution,  perma- 
nent ownership  in  severalty,  land  monopol3^, 
and  the  rise  of  a  socialistic  party  clamoring 
for  redistribution.  Surely  the  unfettered 
boy  left  to  himself  tends  to  recapitulate  the 
progress  of  his  ancestors. 

In  connection  with  our  study  of  self- 
government  among  boys,  the  story  of  the 
McDonogh  boys'  methods  of  law  making 
and  judicial  procedure  is  particularly  val- 
uable. We  get  direct  evidence  here  of  what 
the  natural  method  is  with  boys  of  this  age. 
Notice  a  few  of  the  most  apparent  features: 
no  fixed  constitution,  an  unwritten  code,  a 
growing  body  of  precedents  which  are  in- 
voked as  authoritative  but  not  unalterable; 
a  law-making  body  that  is  absolutely  demo- 
cratic ;  manhood  suffrage ;  a  minimum  of 
legislation,  never  called  for  until  needed, 
then  enacted  with  all  respectable  speed, 
though  after  due  deliberation ;  no  theories 
of  government  and  no  red  tape.  Appar- 
ently  this   is   near-anarchy,   yet   the   public 


RUDIMENTARY  SOCIETY         133 

welfare  and  peace  are  preserved.  There 
are  likewise,  at  the  beginning,  no  officers. 
The  assembly  is  utterly  informal,  collected 
anywhere  and  at  any  time,  for  immediate 
purposes  of  legislating,  administering  jus- 
tice and  executing  the  law  on  the  same  spot 
if  necessary.  The  pure  force  of  public 
opinion  is  all  powerful.  No  one  has  the 
right  to  call  any  speaker  to  order,  but  popu- 
lar clamor  unceremoniously  silences  him  if 
he  transgresses. 

Justice  is  rigidly  maintained,  but  it  is  of 
the  crude,  immature,  primitive  sort.  A 
strict  adherence  to  the  letter  of  the  law  is 
counted  as  righteousness  among  primitive 
peoples ;  and  the  boys  evidently  are  in  this 
stage  of  primitive  justice.  There  was  often 
a  very  bare  regard  for  the  ethics  of  the  case, 
but  punctilious  observance  of  "the  rule"  in 
question.  When  there  is  business  to  be 
despatched,  the  ones  most  interested,  or  the 
personalities  with  greatest  initiative,  push 
the  matter  through  to  an  issue;  general 
agreement  is  obtained  and  the  new  rule 
immediately  goes  into  effect. 

The  close  parallel  between  this  utterly 
democratic  school  assembly,  as  it  was  at  the 
beginning    at    McDonogh,    with    the   village 


134-  BOY  LIFE 

assembly    in    the   Russian    Commune    as    de- 
scribed by  Wallace,  is  worth  noting/ 

"The  Commune  is  in  fact  a  living  institu- 
tion, whose  spontaneous  vitality  enables  it 
to  dispense  with  the  assistance  and  guidance 
of  the  written  law.  All  the  real  authority 
resides  in  the  Assembly,  of  which  all  the 
heads  of  households  are  members.  The 
simple  procedure,  or  rather  absence  of  all 
formal  procedure,  at  the  Assemblies,  illus- 
trates admirably  the  essential  practical 
character  of  the  institutions.  The  meet- 
ings are  held  in  the  open  air.  Any  open 
space  where  there  is  sufficient  space  and  little 
mud,  serves  as  a  Forum.  The  discussions 
are  occasionally  very  animated,  but  there  is 
rarely  any  attempt  at  speech  making.  The 
whole  assemblage  has  the  appearance  of  a 
crowd  of  people  who  have  accidentally  come 
together,  and  are  discussing  in  little  groups 
subjects  of  local  interest.  Gradually  some 
one  group,  containing  two  or  three  peasants 
who  have  more  influence  than  their  fellows, 
attracts  the  others  and  the  discussion  be- 
comes general.  Two  or  more  may  speak  at 
a  time  and  interrupt  each  other  freely,  using 
plain,    unvarnished    language,    not    at    all 

1  Wallace,  "Russia,  '  Vol.  I.,  p.  193. 


RUDIMENTARY  SOCIETY         135 

parliamentary ;  and  the  discussion  may  be- 
come, for  a  few  minutes,  a  confused  unin- 
telligible noise ;  but  at  the  moment  when  the 
spectator  imagines  that  the  consultation  is 
about  to  be  transformed  into  a  promiscuous 
fight,  the  tumult  spontaneously  subsides,  or 
perhaps  a  general  roar  of  laughter  an^ 
nounces  that  some  one  has  been  successfully 
hit  by  a  strong  argumentum  ad  liom'mem 
or  biting  personal  remark.  Communal 
measures  are  generally  carried  in  this  way 
by  acclamation.  The  Assembly  discusses 
all  matters  affecting  the  communal  welfare. 
It  fixes  the  time  for  making  hay  and  for 
plowing  the  fallow  fields.  Above  all  it 
divides  and  allots  the  communal  land  among 
the  members  as  it  thinks  fit." 

Likewise  the  informal  McDonogh  assem- 
bly set  the  annual  date  for  the  nut  harvest, 
and  made  the  attempt  to  secure  a  fair  divi- 
sion of  the  communal  rights  in  land.  They 
also  passed  the  rules  regarding  the  use  of 
the  rabbit  land;  the  rules  concerning  traps, 
and  the  marking  of  trees  and  the  protection 
of  property  in  nests  therein.  Occasionally 
an  especially  complex  question  would  be 
decided  by  a  written  referendum,  publicly 
posted  where  each  boy  by  signing  his  name 


136  BOY  LIFE 

could  express  his  will  and  exert  his  share  of 
influence.  This  literary  method  of  invok- 
ing the  pencil  showed  the  influence  of  the 
school  environment  and  perhaps  some  knowl- 
edge of  modern  balloting. 

We  nmst  next  notice  the  important  fact 
of  the  loss  of  democracy  at  McDonogh  and 
the  rise  of  oligarchical  government.  An 
emergency  arose  requiring  a  new  rule  about 
tree  labeling.  Labels  would  blow  off^.  So 
a  small  caucus  decided  that  the  rule  ought 
to  be  that  unless  the  label  was  in  sight  the 
tree  was  "anybody's  tree."  Then  this 
small  caucus  consulted  the  other  influential 
boys  of  the  school  and  got  their  assent  to 
the  new  rule  and  it  was  declared  in  force. 
This  marked  the  beginning  of  the  downfall 
of  the  popular  assembly.  Soon  the  stronger 
were  tempted  by  the  very  consciousness  of 
influence  to  propose  new  laws  and  declare 
them  adopted  without  troubling  to  gain  the 
consent  of  the  majority.  This  was  oligar- 
chical government,  in  eff*ect,  and  the  prac- 
tical disenfranchising  of  the  masses.  The 
few  resourceful,  influential  boys  with  initia- 
tive, daring,  shrewdness  and  personal  prow- 
ess practically  became  dictators,  restrained 
only  by   their   desire   to   be   themselves   pro- 


RUDIMENTARY  SOCIETY         137 

tectcd  in  their  property  rights  by  the  estab- 
Hshed  laws  and  customs;  and  also  by  their 
love  of  popularity  and  approbation.  Pub- 
lic opinion  still  ruled,  but  it  was  autocratic- 
ally interpreted  by  the  leading  older  boys; 
in  one  instance  two  boys  were  able  to  set  the 
date  of  the  nut  harvest  against  the  wishes 
of   the   majority. 

The  development  plainly  indicated  here 
is  along  the  line  of  racial  evolution,  though 
not  to  the  extent  indicated  in  the  matter 
of  land  tenure. 

In  the  matter  of  legal  procedure  at  Mc- 
Donogh,  we  see  many  striking  paralleUsms 
suggesting  savage,  barbarous  and  primi- 
tive cultures.  Fights  have  always  occurred 
among  the  boys  and  have  consistently  been 
ignored  by  the  teachers.  The  boys  early 
discovered  that  they  must  settle  their  own 
quarrels  and  they  have  a  well-regulated 
order  of  procedure  for  accomplishing  it. 
When  a  fight  begins,  the  principals  are  taken 
in  hand  by  the  crowd ;  a  ring  is  formed  and 
the  contestants  are  compelled  to  fight  it  out 
to  a  finish  and  settle  the  quarrel  then  and 
there.  Therefore  they  seldom  fight,  for 
they  know  it  means  a  fair  fight  and  a  hard 
one.     The  older  boys  especially  will  exhaust 


138  BOY  LIFE 

all  possible  efforts  before  an  appeal  is  made 
to  fists.  The  inconvenience  of  fighting  over 
all  matters  of  property  disputes  gave  rise 
to  the  invention  (or  shall  we  call  it  the  re- 
discovery?) of  an  archaic  judicial  system. 
Serious  crimes  like  robbing  rabbit  traps 
were  promptly  punished  by  a  popular  thrash- 
ing, which  soon  put  an  end  to  that  variety 
of  predatory  sport.  Chronic  insolvency 
was  also  properly  grilled  after  due  time. 
But  less  important  matters  were  subjected 
to  the  primitive  methods  of  settlement  known 
as  the  ordeal.  These  were  of  various  kinds, 
the  appeal  to  chance,  the  laying  of  wagers, 
the  making  of  bets,  and  the  drawing  of 
lots.  This  unreasoning  and  wholly  bar- 
baric custom  gradually  gave  place  to  the 
beginnings  of  arbitration.  Bystanders  were 
commonly  appealed  to,  to  settle  disputes  and 
thus  prevent  a  fight.  Soon  the  big  boys, 
and  the  ones  with  a  reputation  for  good 
judgment,  become  favorites  in  arbitration 
ami  gain  great  influence.  Here  enters  the 
beginning  of  chieftancy  and  gang  and  clan 
leadership.  However,  in  grave  disputes,  the 
judgment  of  a  single  boy  was  seldom  trusted. 
All  the  bystanders,  and  sometimes  all  the 
school,  were  appealed  to  for  justice,  and  we 


RUDIMENTARY  SOCIETY         139 

have  the  beginnings  of  the  jury  system.  It 
is  interesting  to  see  how  the  crowd  surround 
the  principals  in  this  quickly  improvised 
court  of  justice,  hear  both  sides  patiently 
and  in  great  detail,  listen  to  the  witnesses, 
weigh  the  evidence,  decide  the  guilt  or  jus- 
tice by  acclamation ;  and  immediately  execute 
the  penalty — sometimes  by  bumping  the 
criminal's  body  against  a  convenient  tree ! 

Thus  we  see  in  this  boy  court  of  justice 
the  old  primitive  "folk  moot"  assembled  to 
see  justice  done.  Each  boy,  standing  in  the 
ring  around  the  orators  pro  and  con,  knows 
that  tomorrow  he  may  be  there  himself  to 
maintain  his  own  rights  before  the  same 
body,  in  which  trial  the  plaintiff  and  de- 
fendant of  today  will  have  a  voice  to  decide 
upon  his  claims.  As  Dr.  Johnson  says : 
"He  has  a  feeling  that  a  decision  contrary 
to  established  custom,  however  it  may  accord 
with  his  momentary  sympathies  or  friend- 
ships, will  be  treated  as  a  precedent  to  over- 
throw his  most  cherished  interests  and  to  pre- 
vent the  operation  of  the  rules  upon  which  he 
has  confidently  counted  in  every  venture  in 
which  he  is  engaged.  Every  boy  there  is 
determined  upon  the  preservation  of  the 
system  of  law  upon  which  he  has  based  all 


140  BOY  LIFE 

his  hopes  of  filling  his  egg-cabinet."  There- 
fore, with  a  characteristic  analogy  to  primi- 
tive habits  of  justice,  the  literal  fulfilment 
of  the  law,  and  exact  compliance  with  its 
minutest  provisions,  was  all  that  was  con- 
sidered, without  regard  for  the  interests  of 
justice.  "I  stand  here  for  law,"  said  Shy- 
lock.  The  idea  that  moral  rights  were 
above  legal  rights  was  a  later  development 
in  human  history.  But  they  that  live  by 
the  letter  of  the  law  shall  perish  by  it,  was 
the  just  verdict  upon  Shy  lock,  and  all  his 
ilk. 

The  evident  progress  then,  in  this  tumult- 
uous boy-court  system,  was  by  way  of  avoid- 
ing the  fight  by  a  reasonable  discussion  of 
facts  at  issue;  settling  them  when  possible 
on  the  basis  of  the  evidence ;  when  not  pos- 
sible, by  the  barbaric  appeal  to  chance,  lot 
or  the  ordeal ;  using  the  arbitration  method 
when  convenient  and  mutually  agreeable,  or 
a  jury  of  one's  peers,  when  the  gravity  of 
the  case  demands  it ;  but  in  all  cases  recog- 
nizing that  the  dispensing  of  justice  was  a 
sacred  trust  which  the  community  itself  must 
exercise. 

iVIr.   Johnson's  interesting  study   of  Boy 


RUDIMENTARY  SOCIETY         141 

Economy  at  McDonogh  is  not  close  enough 
to  our  subject  to  warrant  our  giving  it  much 
attention.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  common 
custom  of  barter  suggests  the  hunting  stage 
of  culture,  with  such  staples  of  exchange  as 
birds'  eggs,  cherries,  apples,  pies,  grapes, 
knives,  tops  and  slings.  The  keeping  of 
squirrels  and  rabbits  as  pets,  by  boys  a 
little  older,  and  hiring  younger  boys  to  feed 
them,  suggests  the  shepherd  stage  of  cul- 
ture; and  the  manufacture  of  taffy  and  its 
sale  for  so  many  "butters,"  or  school  credits, 
suggests  the  commercial  stage.  The  agri- 
cultural stage  is  evidently  telescoped  in 
their  play  life  because  they  got  too  much  of 
it  in  their  regular  work  life.  Quite  evi- 
dently these  economic  schemes  show  just  as 
close  recapitulation  as  the  matters  of  legal 
and  judicial  interest. 

Here  then  at  McDonogh  is  a  pure  boy 
community,  which,  in  its  inner  and  non- 
institutional  life,  has  developed  year  after 
year  by  boy  initiative  independently,  with- 
out the  help  or  hindrance  of  adults.  Self- 
government  was  freely  allowed  the  boys  in 
all  recreation  hours;  central  government 
being  maintained  in  school  and  work  hours, 


142  BOY  LIFE 

Avhich  was  in  a  measure  necessary  with  the 
younger  boys,  though  decreasingly  neces- 
sary with  the  older  boys. 

These  McDonogh  boys  seem  clearly  to 
have  proved  the  truth  of  the  culture-epochs 
views  along  social,  economic  and  partly 
governmental  lines.  They  paralleled  first 
the  primitive,  patriarchal  society  of  the  old 
communal  village,  with  its  collective  owner- 
ship of  land,  its  democratic  assembly,  and 
informal  legal  customs,  its  ready  reflection 
of  public  opinion,  its  swift,  impartial,  crude 
and  literal  interpretation  of  justice,  its 
simple  barter  and  conveniently  simple 
medium  of  exchange.  Later  they  repeated 
the  limited  democracy  of  more  formal  days, 
with  the  gradual  development  of  private 
ownership  in  land,  the  growing  tendency 
toward  centralization  of  wealth  and  power, 
and  essential  government  by  oligarchy, 
with  the  gradual  discnfranchisemcnt  of  the 
masses.  Later  came  tlie  monopolizing  of 
land  and  boyish  wealth,  until  a  very  few  were 
in  control ;  followed  by  the  rise  of  a  powerful 
socialistic  spirit,  indicating  the  return,  ere 
long,  to  essential  social  democracy,  provided 
the  boys  are  old  enough  to  warrant  it. 


RUDIMENTARY  SOCIETY         143 

The  fact  that  the  economic  evolution  in 
modes  of  land  tenure  and  in  trade  and  ex- 
change was  more  complete  than  the  develop- 
ment of  forms  of  government,  was  doubt- 
less because  thej  worked  at  it  more.  Gov- 
ernment was  merely  incidental.  Their  spe- 
cific interests  were  not  political,  but  indus- 
trial, and  mainly  collectional  and  acquisi- 
tive— the  special  interests  of  the  barbarian 
stage  of  culture,  as  appropriate  to  early 
boyhood  particularly.-  As  the  boys  grew 
older,  and  the  interests  of  the  older  boys  pre- 
dominated, the  industrial  interests  of  higher 
cultures,  the  productive  and  commercial 
interests  arising  in  the  feudal  and  monar- 
chical periods,  developed  appropriately  in 
the  years  of  early  and  middle  adolescence. 

This  is  cumulative  evidence  that  we  should 
learn  to  locate  our  individual  boy  ethnologic- 
ally  by  discovering  his  spontaneous  inter- 
ests, to  see  what  progress  he  has  attained 
in  repeating  the  race  life;  and  that  we  shall 
then  be  able  to  locate  him  governmentally, 
whether  in  the  more  primitive  periods,  patri- 
archal, communal,  tribal,  in  the  monarchy 
period  of  normal  early  adolescence,  or  in 
the  revolutionary  period  which  demands 
larger  measure  of  self-government  and  looks 


144  BOY  LIFE 

toward  democracy,  with  its  increasing  de- 
mand for  initiative  and  opportunity  for 
leadership. 

B}'^  this  time  it  should  be  perfectly  clear 
that  recapitulation  is  not  a  mere  interesting 
coincidence;  and  that  there  is  nothing 
abnormal,  strange,  or  weird  about  it.  It  is 
not  marvelous,  except  as  all  the  ways  of 
God  with  the  boy  soul  are  marvelous.  It  is 
a  purely  natural  thing  that  the  boy  should 
in  a  measure  repeat  the  culture  epochs  of 
the  race.  He  is  groping  his  way  upward 
through  the  levels  of  human  experience. 

It  is  entirely  logical  that  the  primitive 
individual  should  think,  feci  and  act  like 
primitive  society,  while  he  is  in  the  primary 
school  of  experience.  In  so  far  as  environ- 
ment allows,  and  freedom  of  action  is  given, 
it  is  entirely  to  be  expected  that  tlie  same 
impulses  and  process  of  reasoning  which 
developed  customs  and  institutions  among 
childlike  peoples,  should  have  the  same  result 
in  the  case  of  child  individuals,  when  the 
conditions  are  favorable,  as  they  were  at 
McDonogh. 

And  this  being  so,  it  is  logical  to  add  the 
phrase  in  proportion,  and  to  expect  to  find 
the  parallelism   all   along  the  way  of  child 


RUDIMENTARY  SOCIETY         145 

development  and  race  culture.  The  boy 
left  to  himself  is  pretty  sure  to  think,  feel 
and  act,  as  his  primitive  ancestors  used  to 
think,  feel  and  act,  when  they  were  at  the 
same  stage  of  culture — making  large  allow- 
ance  for   different   environment. 

Race  history  then  may  be  expected  to 
furnish  us  some  clue  to  the  sort  of  social 
and  governmental  treatment  which  is  nat- 
ural to  the  boy  and  the  race  at  any  given 
period,  not  in  detail,  but  along  broad  lines. 

We  have  finally  come,  then,  by  this  long 
detour  of  the  inductive  process,  to  the  point 
where  we  are  ready  to  consider  our  ultimate 
object  in  this  course  of  study,  the  specific 
question : 

How  shall  we  organize  our  boys  in  their 
teens,  so  that  an  increasing  amount  of  self- 
government  is  placed  upon  them,  as  they 
measure  up  to  it,  and  a  decreasing  amount 
of  external  authority  be  used? 

Shall  we.or  shall  we  not  attempt  to  repro- 
duce, at  certain  periods,  everything  from 
the  patriarchal  and.  tribal  form  of  govern- 
ment, down  through  the  monarchies,  to  the 
highly  organized  democracy? 


BOY    EPOCHS 


No. 

Staoe  of  Boy  Life 

Age  Limits 

Chahactebistics 

0 

Infancy 

1 
Years         i          (Before  Self-Con- 

0 — 3                          sciousness) 

Early 
Childhood- 
Later 


3— o 


-11 


The  Self  Period 


The  Clique 
Period 


2 

1 
Boyhood 

10—14 

The 
Gang  Period 

3 

Early 
Adolescence 

13—15 

Grammar 

School 

Age 

The 
Chivalry  Period 

4 

Middle 
Adolescence 

14—18 
High 

School 
Age 

The 

Self-Assertive 
Period 

5 

Late 
Adolescence 

17—24 

College 

Age 

The 

Cooperative 
Period 

Not 

K. — For  the  explanation  of  t 

his  Chart,  sec  pag< 

;sl54tolfiH.    It  is  necessarj 

RACE   EPOCHS 


Will-Progress 


Alle- 

QIANCE 


Racial  Prototvpe 


(Self-Discovery) 

(Blind) 

Pre-Historic  Period 

Self-Control 

Father 

Patriarchal  Period 

Chum 

Savage  Kinship  Clan 

Comradeship 

The 
Gang 

The  Tribal  Period 

Limited  Democracy  to  Monarchy 

1 — Council  of  Braves 

2 — Federated  Tribes  with 

Chieftain  by  Prowess 

Personal 

Loyalty 

(Obedience) 

The 
Hero 

The  Feudal  Period  of  the 
Absolute  Monarchy 

Self-Reliance 
(Through  Struggle) 

The 
Ego 

The  Revolutionary  Period  of 
the  Constitutional  Monarchy 

1 

Leadership 

(Resourcefulness) 

'      The 

State 

The  Republic: 
Social-Democracy  in  a 
Self-Go\er.iing  State 

lake  the  periods  overlap  to  allow  for  wide  differences  in  boy  development. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  EPOCHS  OF  BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH 

A  few  things  are  evident  at  this  point  of 
the  discussion,  which  will  suggest  the  line  of 
further  investigation.  The  question  with 
which  the  last  chapter  closed  refers  to  adult 
made  organizations  for  boys.  Such  work, 
to  be  safe,  must  be  experimental  and  induct- 
ive. We  have  learned  that  for  such  experi- 
mental work  we  must  take  the  cue  from  the 
boys'  own  spontaneous  organizations,  and 
the  subjective,  instinctive  world  in  which  the 
boy  is  now  living.  We  have  discovered  that 
these  boy  societies  reflect  somewhat,  at  differ- 
ent ages,  the  forms  and  ideals  of  the  race 
cultures  which  the  boys  are  just  then  reca- 
pitulating; but  that  this  racial  process  is 
very  uneven,  and  variant  in  different  boys 
of  the  same  age,  and  sometimes  apparently 
absent.  When  it  Is  in  evidence,  it  helps  us 
to  locate  the  boy  and  indicates  the  method 
of  treatment  which  will  best  fit  him,  adapted 
to  the  stage  of  culture  through  which  he  is 
now  passing. 

We    have    also    discovered    that,    parallel 


148  BOY  LIFE 

with  the  recapitulation  process,  as  indicated 
by  the  boy's  active  interests,  shown  most  in 
his  play,  there  is  going  on  the  great  process 
of  zvill  development;  largely  as  a  result  of 
his  training  in  initiative,  gained  in  his  hours 
of  freedom.  We  have  called  the  results  of 
these  stages  of  will  progress  self-control, 
comradeship,  personal  loyalty,  self-reliance 
and  leadership.  We  have  further  discov- 
ered that  in  some  real  way  the  progress  in 
this  developing  manliness  is  due  to  the  boy*s 
utilizing  his  environment  socially,  in  each 
passing  period  or  culture  epoch.  How  to 
help  him  so  to  utilize  his  environment,  and 
make  normal  progress  at  each  stage,  is  a 
large  part  of  our  work. 

Again,  we  have  found  that  this  will  be 
guided  not  merely  by  the  boy's  age,  but  by 
his  mental  characteristics  and  temperament ; 
particularly  his  degree  of  impulsiveness  and 
consequent  forwardness.  More  specifically, 
our  study  of  gangs  and  the  rudimentary 
society  at  McDonogh  clearly  indicates  that 
mere  governmental  functions,  political  gym- 
nastics, should  be  reduced  to  the  minimum  in 
our  boys'  work  in  the  earlier  periods.  This, 
too,  is  clearly  in  line  with  the  theory  of  gov- 
ernmental epochs  at  the  appropriate  stage. 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  149 

We  need  next  to  classify  the  modes  of 
average  boy  development  along  industrial 
and  governmental  epochs,  in  the  race  and 
in  the  boy ;  then  to  discover  how  the  five 
stages  in  will  achievement,  on  the  boy's  part, 
correlate  with  these  successive  epochs.  We 
shall  then  be  ready  for  a  detailed  study  of 
various  forms  of  group  and  mass  clubs,  and 
their  appropriateness  to  the  different  periods 
of  boyhood  as  mediums  for  will  development. 

Industrial  Epochs  in  the  Boy  and  in  the 
Race. 

As  previously  stated,  the  main  value  of 
this  special  subject  for  our  purpose  is  to 
help  to  locate  the  boy  in  the  process  of  reca- 
pitulation ;  that  is,  to  discover  how  far  along 
he  is,  on  the  road  to  modern  manliness,  in 
order  to  know  what  measure  of  self-govern- 
ment he  is  fitted  for. 

As  our  problem  is  mainly  with  adolescent 
boys  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  develop  the 
first  part  of  this  special  topic,  which  relates 
particularly  to  children.  But  it  has  some 
value  for  us  in  helping  us  identify  and  treat 
the  cases  of  tardy  development. 

A  simple  and  convenient  scheme  of  indus- 
trial classification  is  the  following: 


150  BOY  LIFE 

1.  The  Reign  of  the  Acquisitive  and 
Collectional  Instincts  in  the  Boy. 

From  infancy  to  puberty,  normally.  Ra- 
cially a  long  period,  covering  the  periods 
of  savagery  and  lower  barbarism,  through 
the  hunting  and  pastoral  stages  of  the 
patriarchal  and  communal  clan  life. 

This  is  the  selfish  period  for  the  boy  in 
his  self-centered  world.  His  hunting,  fish- 
ing, gathering  of  treasures  all  indicate  this. 
Earlier  it  is  the  period  of  "hunting  and  cap- 
ture," with  stealthy,  stalking  methods  in 
games  of  hide-and-seek,  bo-peep,  black-man, 
prisoner's  base,  etc.,  but  later  comes  the  pas- 
toral stage  with  its  fondness  for  pets  and  its 
home  menagerie.  The  acquisitive  instincts 
should  normally  develop  into  the  habit  of 
thrift;  and  the  collectional  normally  con- 
tinues longer  than  this  period  of  course; 
finally  yielding  its  dominance  to  the  pro- 
ductive instinct. 

2.  The  Reign  of  the  Productive  and 
Destructive  Instincts. 

Depending  largely  on  environment,  but 
probably  from  eleven  to  fifteen  years,  seldom 
continuing  longer   than   a   couple   of   years. 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  151 

Racially  this  is  the  tribal  and  agricultural 
period  of  later  barbarism.  Sometimes  a  love 
for  gardening  is  manifested  strongly,  with 
a  childish  tendency  to  pull  up  the  seeds  to 
see  if  they  are  growing ;  oftener,  if  environ- 
ment allows,  forestry  is  the  special  passion, 
giving  play  to  the  love  for  hewing  and  cut- 
ting, which  is  often  transferred  to  desks, 
tables,  and  windows.  This  is  the  tribal 
period  of  the  gang,  in  which  the  productive 
and  destructive  instincts  are  in  the  balance. 
If  the  latter  wins,  the  goal  is  the  juvenile 
court;  if  the  former  wins,  the  next  stage 
comes  rapidly,  as  the  productive  instinct 
grows  naturally  into  the  constructive,  and 
the  goal  may  be  the  shop  or  any  useful 
career. 

3.  The  Reign  of  the  Constructive  and 
Transformative  Instincts. 

Sometimes  beginning  as  early  as  twelve 
years,  if  a  shop  is  handy ;  developing  through 
life  if  the  technical  bent  is  made  permanent 
as  a  result;  or  ending  quickly  if  the  next 
period  comes  soon  because  of  environment 
or  special  interest.  This  is  racially  the 
mediaeval  period  of  the  development  of  arts 
and  crafts  and  the  building  of  towns.     The 


152  BOY  LIFE 

boy  now  learns  to  develop  skill  and  power, 
having  become  master  of  his  ten  fingers  and 
his  well-coordinated  muscles. 

4.  The  Reign  of  tJie  Cooperative  and 
Commercial  Instincts. 

Racially  the  growth  of  social  institutions 
and  cities.  The  development  of  shrewdness 
in  the  boy  and  his  social  adjustment. 
Strong  at  fourteen  years,  when  most  boys 
are  crazy  to  leave  school  and  get  to  work, 
as  eighty  per  cent  of  them  do ;  and  when 
many  school  boys  go  into  some  sort  of  busi- 
ness in  leisure  hours.  Baseball  reaches  its 
climax  now  as  an  absorbing  interest,  because 
of  the  team  work  involved.  This  is  the 
period  of  swapping,  trading,  bartering,  bar- 
gaining, truly  the  Yankee  period  of  boy- 
hood. Dr.  Woods  Hutchinson  emphasizes 
the  bulging  pockets  of  the  grammar  school 
boy;  his  demand  for  pay  for  services,  his 
new  sense  of  arithmetic  and  recognition  of 
value.  Often  this  commercial  period  is  apt 
to  appear  earlier,  and  the  children  run  a  pin 
store  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood,  which 
they  are  more  apt  to  do  if  the  father  of 
one  of  them  is  a  storekeeper.  Hence  environ- 
ment hastens  the  appearance  of  this  stage. 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  153 

The  good  habits  resulting  from  the  right 
expression  of  these  two  instincts  are  too 
numerous  and  too  evident  to  mention  here. 

Let  us  take  but  a  single  paragraph  in 
further  application  of  these  industrial 
epochs.  Besides  revealing  the  boy's  inter- 
ests, and  thus  telUng  us  where  to  locate  him, 
we  can  here  get  the  clue  to  guiding  him  on, 
to  the  older  period,  if  he  is  inclined  to  linger 
too  long  in  some  stage  of  arrested  develop- 
ment. We  can  readily  interest  him  in  the 
productive  or  constructive  arts  if  he  is  too 
immature  and  childlike.  We  can  arouse  his 
cooperative  instinct  or  his  commercial  taste 
possibly,  at  least  the  former,  if  he  is  inclined 
to  stay  all  day  in  the  woodshed  working  with 
tools.  This  will  insure  his  getting  some- 
thing of  the  value  of  each  period,  and  make 
him  thus  a  more  symmetrical  man ;  and  will 
also  insure  his  making  his  choice  of  a  life 
work  more  intelligently.  Quite  likely,  many 
a  boy  has  let  his  liking  for  tools  and  making 
things  draw  him  prematurely  into  a  me- 
chanic's life,  before  he  had  given  himself  the 
chance  to  discover  real  talent  for  leadership 
and  commercial  or  professional  life,  by  giv- 
ing his  cooperative  instincts  their  alloted 
reign. 


154  BOY  LIFE 

More  directlj^  connected  with  our  problem 
is  our  next  classification  (see  chart)  : 

The  Volitional,  or  Governmental  Epochs 
in  the  Boy  and  the  Race. 

0.  Infancy  (0-3  years).  Prior  to  self- 
consciousness  and  memory. 

Parallel  to  the  Prehistoric  period  of  the 
race. 

1.  Childhood  (3-12).  Including  the 
Self -Period  (3-6)  and  the  Clique  Period  (7- 
11). 

Parallel  to  the  Patriarchal  and  communal 
period  of  the  savage  kinship  clan. 

In  this  period  the  child  yields  unquestioned 
obedience  to  his  father  (or  mother)  and  his 
will  achievement  should  be  Self-control.  His 
social  outreachings  result  in  the  narrow 
attachments  of  the  clannish  clique  of  play- 
mates which  is  tlie  rudimentary  form  of  the 
Gang. 

2.  Boyhood  (lO-U).  The  Gang  Period 
(i.e.  the  period  when  the  gang  is  dominant). 

Parallel  to  the  Tribal  period  racially ;  the 
limited  democracy  of  the  barbarian  tribe, 
with  its  council  of  braves  and  sagamores ; 
later  the  federated  tribes  with  chieftain  by 
prowess. 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  155 

In  this  period  the  boy  yields  his  inner 
allegiance,  first  to  his  boy  chum,  then  to  the 
gang  as  a  whole,  developing  a  keen  gang 
loyalty ;  and  his  normal  will  acliievement  is 
Comradeship. 

S.  Early  Adolescence  (13-15).  The 
Chivalry  Period  (i.e.  the  hero  dominant). 

Parallel  to  the  Feudal  period  racially,  the 
period  of  Absolute  Monarchy,  under  czar  or 
king,  with  its  rough  chivalric  virtues  and 
vices. 

This  is  normally  the  grammar  school 
period  for  the  boy,  with  its  development  of 
team  work  under  a  leader,  its  follow-the- 
leader  stunts,  its  love  for  mihtary  drill  and 
display,  and  its  great  impulse,  hero  worship. 

The  boy's  inner  allegiance  is  now  passing 
from  the  gang  collectively  to  its  leader,  or 
some  other  hero;  sometimes  degenerating 
into  subservience  to  the  bully  who  acts  the 
boy-czar  in  this  Absolute  Monarchy  period. 
The  boy's  will  achievement  now  is  Personal 
Loyalty,  the  spirit  of  obedience. 

4.  Middle  Adolescence  (14-18).  The 
Self-assertive  Period.     High  school  age. 

Parallel  to  the  Revolutionary  period,  his- 
torically, and  the  rise  of  democracy  under  a 


156  BOY  LIFE 

Constitutional  Monarchy;  rebellion  against 
despotism. 

The  boy's  independence  is  now  rising  fast, 
in  this  storm  and  stress  period.  He  is  rest- 
less, obstinate,  domineering,  combative,  self- 
conscious,  bashful  or  arrogant — sometimes 
by  turns.  It  is  the  great  competitive  period 
in  games  and  in  school  work;  team  work 
wanes  for  awhile.  He  demands  the  right  to 
be  "put  on  honor"  and  to  be  allowed  increas- 
ing freedom.  His  inner  allegiance  is  very 
fickle,  but  usually  given  only  to  the  ego  at 
this  period  until  normally  yielded  to  Jesus 
Christ.  He  is  struggling  after  Self-reliance 
in  his  will-achievement  process,  and  is  grad- 
ually gaining  it,  according  to  his  capacity 
and  his  wisely  guided  opportunities  for 
practice. 

5.  Late  Adolescence  (17-24).  The  Co- 
operative Period.     College  age. 

Parallel  to  the  development  of  the  self- 
governing  Republic,  a  genuine  social  demo- 
racy. 

If  the  boy  has  developed  normally  he 
should  soon  be  ready  for  self-government 
absolutely,  and  in  every  department  of  his 
life.  He  has  learned  respect  for  others 
which  gives  him  confidence  in  social  adjust- 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  157 

ment  and  cooperation.  Also,  through  imi- 
tation and  through  obedience,  as  well  as 
through  practice  in  the  previous  period,  he 
has  perhaps  gained  the  great  achievement 
of  Leadership,  at  least  relatively.  His  alle- 
giance is  now  to  the  State  and  is  cheerfully 
accorded,  because  of  his  personal  stake  in  it. 
Notice  that  in  both  of  these  classifications 
we  are  obliged  to  allow  the  different  stages 
to  overlap,  because  allowance  must  thus  be 
made  for  both  retarded  and  precocious  de- 
velopment. Again  and  again  we  shall  find 
individual  boys  who  defy  classification  of 
course,  because  of  their  uneven  development, 
as  every  boy-man  well  knows.  Great  differ- 
ences are  sure  to  arise  under  the  influence  of 
different  environments.  It  would  be  worth 
while  to  give  an  entire  chapter  to  the  discus- 
sion of  the  variant  effects  of  environment 
upon  boy  development.  Let  us  just  mention, 
in  passing,  that  in  this  classification  broad 
differences  will  be  discovered  between  boys  in 
school  and  employed  boys.  Just  as  the 
whole  period  of  adolescence  was  practically 
omitted  in  barbarian  ages,  so  in  proportion 
to  the  degree  of  culture  we  find  that  boys 
tend  to  telescope  one  or  more  of  these  three 
sub-periods.      It   is   quite    frequent    for   the 


158  BOY  LIFE 

Chivalric  period  to  be  omitted,  as  precocious 
street  boys,  particularly,  pass  directly  from 
the  Gang  period  to  the  Self-assertive  period ; 
and  then  little-manhood  sets  in  and  arrested 
development  cuts  off  the  Cooperative  period 
of  late  adolescence,  as  they  hurry  into  the 
mill  and  factory  and  become  devotees  of  the 
pipe  and  the  labor  union.  Too  frequently 
we  find  ill-considered  strikes  caused  by  the 
votes  of  mere  boys  whose  youthful  days  ended 
abruptly  at  the  Self-assertive  period;  and 
they  gained  too  early  the  independence  which 
comes  automatically  to  the  working  boy, 
before  he  has  any  right  to  be  a  man.  It  is 
a  serious  loss  when  a  boy,  by  the  cruel  sur- 
gery of  our  modern  industrialism,  has  to 
suffer  thus  the  cutting  out  of  the  Chivalric 
period  and  the  Cooperative  period  of  his 
youth.  The  loss  is  a  needless  loss,  even 
though  he  be  an  employed  boy,  provided  we 
make  it  good  to  him  in  our  Christian  Asso- 
ciation work ;  and  this  is  the  great  reason 
why  the  most  important  missionary  work 
we  are  doing  in  our  boys'  departments  is 
with  the  employed  boys.  We  are  safeguard- 
ing them  from  this  loss,  and  giving  them  the 
privileges  of  a  well-rounded  adolescence, 
before  they  have  to  be  men. 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  159 

By  reverting  to  this  second  classification 
just  given,  you  will  notice  how  the  develop- 
ing allegiance  of  the  boy's  will,  in  the  various 
stages,  parallels  the  governmental  progress 
of  the  race.  It  is  interesting  to  see  how 
closely  related  the  two  facts  are. 

The  boy  yields  his  heart's  allegiance  first 
to  his  father  under  the  normal  influences  of 
home  life,  as  in  the  patriarchal  period;  next 
to  his  chum  in  the  primitive  democracy  of 
the  clan ;  then  in  the  tribal  period,  to  the 
gang,  which  absorbs  his  loyalty  so  strongly; 
then  to  the  hero  in  the  feudal  period,  with 
its  absolutism,  as  represented  by  the  gang 
leader  or  the  bully — or  more  fortunately  as 
represented  by  the  hero  to  whom  the  boy  has 
given  his  admiration  and  devotion. 

Then  comes  the  turn  in  the  tide  at  middle 
adolescence,  as  the  developing  individuality 
of  the  boy  comes  to  resent  the  dominance  of 
the  bully  and  the  gang's  tyranny,  as  well  as 
every  other  form  of  authority  which  is 
unreasonable,  and  with  increasing  self- 
reliance  he  withholds  his  allegiance  alto- 
gether, until  he  finds  a  personal  Master 
again  in  Jesus  Christ. 

"  Our  wills  are  ours,  we  know  not  how ; 
Our  wills  are  ours,  to  make  them  thine." 


160  BOY  LIFE 

In  this  Revolutionary  period,  while  he  is 
gaining  for  his  rising  personality  more  and 
more  freedom  from  restraint,  he  is  closely 
paralleling  the  progress  of  the  race  during 
the  long  struggle  with  tyranny,  as  out  of 
despotism  came  the  constitutional  monarchy 
with  its  increasing  political  liberty.  The 
last  stage  of  progress  was  simply  the  natural 
development  from  struggle  to  mastery,  with 
the  ability  for  social  adjustment,  resource- 
fulness and  leadership  which  is  gained  only 
with  judicious  freedom. 

We  are  now  ready  to  answer  our  question 
about  organization:  How  shall  we  organize 
our  boys  in  their  teens.''  ....  Shall  we 
attempt  to  reproduce  at  certain  periods 
everything  from  the  patriarchal  and  tribal 
form  of  government  down  through  the  mon- 
archies to  the  highly  organized  democracy? 

I  think  the  following  deductions  may  be 
drawn  from  our  preceding  study:  (1)  As  a 
part  of  the  general  theory  of  the  culture 
epochs,  it  is  evident  that  there  is  a  very  close 
and  logical  connection  between  racial  devel- 
opment historically,  and  the  development  of 
the  individual  boy. 

(2)  It  is  also  apparent  that  no  organiza- 
tion   of   boys    of   the    difFerent    ages,    which 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  l6l 

violates  the  principles  of  this  natural 
development,  is  likely  to  succeed.  That  is, 
entire  freedom  from  restraint  given  a  boys' 
club  under  ten  or  twelve  is  pretty  sure  to 
result  in  the  speedy  necessity  for  a  dictator 
— if  in  fact  the  whole  club  does  not  fall  to 
pieces  from  mutual  jealousies.  And  to  give 
complete  freedom  to  a  boys'  club  of  thirteen 
or  fourteen  years  would  be  likely  to  have 
the  same  effect  as  in  the  average  Central 
American  Republic:  another  gang  leader 
comes  along  and  annexes  the  government. 

(3)  The  principles  of  the  racial  develop- 
ment, then,  must  be  regarded  in  each  boy 
period,  but  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that 
the  parallelism  of  form  can  be  rigidly 
followed,  because  of  the  great  varieties  of 
political  stages  as  well  as  the  bewildering 
complexity  of  boy  types.  The  more  we  dif- 
ferentiate our  forms  of  government,  the  more 
exclusive  each  becomes  and  therefore  the 
more  misfit  boys  would  appear  to  spoil  the 
plan. 

(4)  We  should  aim  then  to  reproduce  in 
our  organization  only  the  stages  of  political 
progress  which  indicate  broad  distinctions 
which  are  quite  clearly  indicated  in  boy  life. 

(5)  Not  more  than  four  or  five  varieties 


162  BOY  LIFE 

should  be  attempted,  unless,  by  a  highly 
selective  process,  a  man  should  chance  to 
collect  a  group  of  boys  different  from  any 
ordinary  type,  and  yet  ahke.  In  general, 
the  five  different  periods  of  our  classification 
suggest  a  single  mode  of  treatment  for  each 
age.     Let  us  consider  each  in  turn. 

1.  Organization  for  the  Childhood 
Period  (3-10).  Obviously  there  is  little  to 
be  said  here.  Such  as  there  is  must  be  retail 
organization,  in  small  groups  and  if  possible 
with  older  bo3'S  as  natural  leaders  in  the 
little  clan  circle.  The  Brotherhood  of 
David  and  the  Captains  of  Ten  are  excellent 
types  of  clubs  for  this  clique  period.  Also 
any  simple  group  club. 

2.  Organization  for  the  Gang  Period 
(10-14).  This  is  the  small-boy  problem 
and  properly  has  no  place  in  a  course  on 
self-government.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the 
big  chief  in  this  federated  tribe  of  barbarian 
hordes,  must  be  an  adult  whose  prowess  is 
unquestioned  and  who  holds  the  boys  by 
his  strong,  virile  personality.  His  will  is 
practically  law,  but  it  must  be  a  lawful  will 
or,  like  his  racial  prototype,  sudden  disaster 
is  likely  to  befall  him!  In  no  other  work 
does  personal  force  and  magnetism  count  for 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  163 

more  than  right  in  this  stage  of  boys'  work, 
where  the  personality  of  the  leader  must  be 
law  and  gospel  for  the  gang.  Woodcraft 
Indians  is  the  typical  organization  here. 

3.  Organization  for  the  Chivalric  Period 
(13-15).  This  is  more  difficult  than  the 
earlier,  but  more  simple  than  the  later 
period,  because  there  is  less  self-assertiveness 
on  the  part  of  the  boys,  except  in  case  of  the 
"precipitate  will"  and  certain  kinds  of 
employed  boys  who  are  precocious.  Al- 
though this  is  the  absolute  monarchy  period 
racially,  we  must  not  fail  to  remember  that 
feudalism's  weakness  was  its  failure  to 
recognize  leadership  and  reward  it  often. 
This,  in  general,  it  tried  to  do,  and  we  are 
reminded  of  the  elaborate  hierarchy  of 
knights  and  baronets  and  lords  and  dukes 
and  earls  who  presumably  had  proven  their 
capacity  for  relative  leadership.  Relative 
leadership  under  a  strongly  centralized 
control,  then,  is  the  key  to  this  period.  We 
may  count  on  a  strong  personal  lo^^alty  from 
the  boys,  if  we  have  any  sort  of  a  personality 
to  attract  it,  and  we  may  also  count  on  a 
large  degree  of  team  work  and  willingness  to 
serve  under  the  orders  of  superiors.  The 
difficulty  is  to  choose  these  under  officers  so 


164  BOY  LIFE 

wisely  that  they  will  get  the  boys'  support. 
The  Knights  of  King  Arthur  is  admirably 
adapted  to  boys  of  this  period,  as  well  as  to 
the  boys  just  a  little  younger.  In  this  third 
period,  as  in  the  one  just  older,  a  large 
amount  of  initiative  can  be  allowed  and 
encouraged  by  "stunts"  and  tests  of  leader- 
ship appropriate  to  the  period;  yet  usually 
the  boys  themselves  will  consider  it  necessary 
to  have  an  adult  leader  capable  of  holding  a 
firm  rein  when  necessary.  In  the  feudal 
period  the  king  was  noticeably  popular  with 
the  masses,  if  he  was  half  a  man.  Against 
the  aggression  of  the  feudal  barons,  the 
king  was  the  preserver  of  popular  rights 
and  liberties.  So  should  it  be  in  the  boys' 
club  in  this  chivalric  period. 

4.  Club  Organization  for  the  Self-assert- 
ive Period  (14-18). 

This  is  our  main  problem.  These  boys 
are  likely  to  need  a  strong  hand;  a  mailed 
hand,  sometimes,  but  it  must  be  in  a  silken 
gauntlet.  They  have  won  constitutional 
rights,  however,  by  their  growing  manliness, 
and  they  must  not  be  treated  as  small  boys, 
or  have  small  boys  classed  with  them.  They 
have  made  considerable  attainment  in  will 
achievement,   and    should    always   be   consiJ- 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  165 

ered  as  worthy  of  self-government  until 
proven  unworthy.  That  means,  always  put 
upon  their  honor  when  possible,  until  the 
unworthy  have  been  sifted  out  by  the  test. 
They  are  increasingly  self-rehant  and  are 
struggling  for  freedom  of  initiative  and 
should  be  given  work  which  will  practice  them 
in  it.  Yet  their  leadership  experience  is 
quite  limited,  so  they  cannot  wisely  be  left 
to  themselves.  They  will  need  a  man's  guid- 
ance and  perhaps  nominal  control.  The 
constitutional  monarchy  is  a  Hmited  mon- 
archy, but  still  it  has  a  king.  Likewise  these 
boys  of  fourteen  to  seventeen  will  need  the 
experienced,  tactful,  conservative  leadership 
of  a  manly  man  whom  they  can  look  up  to, 
yet  not  fear,  nor  regard  as  a  tyrant.  How- 
ever, we  must  remember  that  in  most  consti- 
tutional monarchies  the  king  does  not  rule, 
he  merely  reigns.  The  constitution  is  the 
ruler,  as  interpreted  by  both  king  and  people. 
Yet  the  king  has  large  controlling  force.  We 
are  all  familiar  with  the  fact  that  in  England 
and  other  countries  in  Europe,  there  is  prob- 
ably a  higher  regard  for  law,  more  reverence 
for  civil  authority,  greater  sense  of  restraint 
and  consequently  less  crime,  than  in  free 
America.     There  are  several  reasons,  but  it 


166  BOY  LIFE 

is  partly  due  to  the  influence  of  the  king ;  not 
his  legal  but  his  psychological  influence. 
The  king  in  a  constitutional  monarchy 
mainly  controls  the  people  and  keeps  the 
peace  by  suggestion,  like  father's  switch 
hung  up  in  the  woodshed!  Whether  exer- 
cised or  not,  it  represents  and  personifies  the 
law.  Our  Republic  lacks  the  Personification 
of  Law,  except  as  exerted  upon  the  small  boy 
by  the  policeman  and  the  "Kid's  Judge." 

Boys  in  the  Self-assertive  period,  then, 
must  have  both  a  large  degree  of  constitu- 
tional liberty  and  an  adult  adviser.  Their 
freedom  and  self-direction  should  increase 
just  as  fast  as  they  prove  worthy  and 
capable ;  and  the  adviser  should  correspond- 
ingly retreat  from  reigning  king  to  friendly 
counselor.  He  must  always  retain,  however, 
the  right  of  veto  on  matters  of  importance, 
as  boys  in  middle  adolescence  are  still  apt  to 
be  fickle.  His  success  will  doubtless  be  in 
proportion  to  his  ability  to  guide  his  boys 
without  their  knowing  it.  They  should 
apparently  be  doing  the  whole  business 
themselves,  and  usually  may  be  trusted  to, 
if  the  adviser  can  keep  them  in  the  habit  of 
consulting  liim  whenever  their  inexperience 
demands  it. 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  167 

As  we  concluded  some  time  ago,  the  mere 
governmental  functions  in  clubs  of  this  sort 
should  be  reduced  to  the  minimum.  The 
McDonogh  boys  proved  this  to  us.  Consti- 
tutions are  developed  by  growing  precedents, 
not  built  up  out  of  green  timber,  later  to 
warp  and  check  and  split  up  sadly.  The  main 
purpose  at  this  period  should  ever  be  kept 
in  mind  as  something  else  than  mere  govern- 
ment. It  is  training  in  self-reliance  and 
leadership;  development  in  initiative  and 
originality.  This  raises  a  most  interesting 
question  which  will  be  considered  later,  the 
stunts  and  tests  of  leadership  in  middle 
adolescence.  The  Phi  Alpha  Pi,  the  Pilgrim 
Fraternity,  or  some  similar  society  with  an 
adult  guide  who  guides  from  the  rear,  is  the 
typical  organization  for  this  period.  The 
failure  and  danger  of  the  independent  high 
school  "frat"  is  its  unfortunate  lack  of  any 
adult  assistance  and  advice. 

5.  Club  Organization  for  the  Coopera- 
tive Period  (18-24). 

This  period  is  really  out  of  our  range, 
for  these  boys  are  men,  or  ought  to  be.  If 
previous  progress  has  developed  their  will 
through  self-control,  comradeship,  loyalty 
and  self-reliance,  and  they  have  had  reason- 


168  BOY  LIFE 

able  practice  In  personal  initiative,  they  are 
now  ready  for  full  self-government ;  and  any 
paternalistic  authority  over  them  would  be 
disastrous,  unless  the  group  included  only 
seventeen  and  eighteen-year-old  boys.  In 
this  case,  they  might  need  treatment  similar 
to  the  group  next  younger.  But  if  the  boys 
of  seventeen  were  with  the  older  boys  of 
eighteen  to  twenty-four,  it  would  probably 
result  in  the  older  boys  dominating  the 
group  naturally  and  all  would  be  well.  It 
will  be  a  manly,  self-controlled,  earnest  set 
of  men  who  do  not  need  discipline,  surveil- 
lance, or  oversight,  but  encouragement, 
advice  and  guidance;  which  they  will  doubt- 
less be  grateful  for.  They  are  abundantly 
able  to  govern  themselves  as  a  pure,  social 
democracy.  The  church  brotherhood,  or 
independent  association  is  the  natural  form 
of  organization  at  this  period. 

We  are  now  brought  close  to  the  practical 
problem  whether  and  when  to  use  the  "mass 
club"  plan  or  the  "group  club"  plan.  This 
will  necessitate  a  brief  comparison  of  the 
two  historic  forms  of  boys'  work  to  discover 
the  advantages  of  each,  in  order  to  see  under 
what  conditions  each  is  superior  to  the  other 
in  efficiency. 


CHAPTER  IX 

GROUP  CLUBS  AND  MASS  CLUBS 
FOR  BOYS 

The  warm  and  enlightening  discussion 
regarding  the  merits  and  demerits  of  these 
two  forms  of  work  with  boys  is  about  over. 
The  heat  has  subsided ;  the  hght  remains.  It 
is  hardly  necessary  to  take  time  to  review  the 
discussion.  My  own  opinion  is  similar  to 
the  decision  of  a  tactful  negro  who  had  been 
made  arbiter  of  a  warm  debate  between  two 
of  his  colored  friends.  He  gave  his  decision 
thus :  "Ma  f ren'  Jones  heah  believes  they 
aint  no  Gawd.  Ma  fren'  Wash'n'ton  says 
they  sho'  is.  De  truf  seems  to  lie  betwixt  de 
two."  Both  group  and  mass  clubs  are  riglit, 
and  they  need  mixing;  but  each  is  particu- 
larly adapted  to  certain  periods  of  boyhood. 

Let  us  briefly  recall  certain  of  the  com- 
parative merits  of  the  two  plans  and  then  see 
how  they  fit  the  stages  of  boy  development. 

The  mass  club  is  wholesale  work  with  boys  ; 
the  group  club  is  retail  work.  The  former 
is  inclusive,  democratic,  free  from  castes  or 
creedal  tests.  The  latter  is  exclusive,  selec- 
tive, homogeneous  and  includes  boys  of  the 


170  BOY  LIFE 

same  age,  faith  and  social  station.  The  mass 
club  does  a  remarkably  extensive  work 
usually,  and  has  to  be  superficial  about  it. 
The  group  club  does  intensive  work  and 
therefore  can  do  it  thoroughly.  The  mass 
club  is  having  the  great  satisfaction  of 
making  a  host  of  boys  decent.  The  group 
club  has  the  thorough  satisfaction  of  making 
fewer  boys  better.  The  boy  in  the  mass 
club  gets  one  seventeen-hundredth  of  Thomas 
Chew  every  night  in  the  week.  The  boy  in 
the  group  club  gets  perhaps  one  tenth  of  a 
man's  personality  once  or  twice  a  week. 
Now  that  is  a  hard  problem  to  factor  !  Con- 
tinuous impressions  and  regular  contact,  but 
distant,  on  the  one  hand.  On  the  other,  close 
contact  and  vivid  impression  less  frequently. 
Take  your  choice. 

The  boys  will  also  take  their  choice.  The 
young  tough  dodges  your  close  contact. 
The  rough-houser  and  the  chap-who-keeps- 
everything-lively  likewise  choose  the  larger 
field  of  activity.  The  boy  who  likes  the 
protection  of  a  crowd  where  either  his  bash- 
fulness  or  his  deviltry  may  find  safety,  will 
of  course  avoid  tlie  group,  if  the  mass  club  is 
handy  and  attractive.  Here,  also,  the 
ragged  boy  and  the  poor  boy  and  every  sort 


CLUBS  FOR  BOYS  171 

of  boy-pariah  will  venture  in,  and  be  sure  of 
a  speedy  welcome.  But  the  boys  at  least 
think  there's  a  finer  sieve  at  the  entrance  to 
the  group  club,  so  you  have  to  go  for  them, 
if  you  get  boys  of  this  type. 

The  one  hundred  and  fifty  mass  clubs  in 
this  country  are  doing  a  conspicuous  and 
valuable  work;  not  merely  keeping  the  boys 
off  the  streets,  but  sometimes  actually  making 
the  boyhood  of  a  city  decent,  as  in  Toledo. 
The  great  factor  which  makes  this  possible 
is  the  continuous  leadership  year  after  year 
of  the  right  man,  a  boy's  man,  who  gradually 
by  persistent  sacrificing  labor  makes  himself 
a  power  in  the  city.  Too  often  the  weakness 
of  the  group  club,  in  church  or  school  or 
settlement,  is  the  almost  indistinguishable 
procession  of  temporary  workers  who  seldom 
stay  by  the  boys  long  enough  to  become 
leaders,  and  make  little  impression  on  the 
boy  life  of  a  city  or  even  of  a  precinct.  The 
few  boys  they  are  able  to  serve,  however,  may 
become  splendidly  developed  Christian  citi- 
zens, who  will  always  remember  their  kindness. 

The  danger  of  mass  club  effort  is  the 
danger  of  the  superficial,  of  reducing  social 
service  to  a  ragged  sort  of  boy-work  vaude- 
ville with  little  lasting  worth  and  then  losing 


172  BOY  LIFE 

all  sight  of  the  boy  at  fifteen.  The  danger 
of  the  group  club  work  is  the  danger  of 
coddling  a  little  bunch  of  chaps  who  are 
already  too  much  pampered  in  their  homes 
of  luxury.  The  group  club  needs  the  enthu- 
siasm, the  esprit  de  corps,  of  the  mass  club. 
The  mass  club  needs  to  organize  itself  inten- 
sively into  natural  groups  for  thorough 
work  with  definite,  purposeful  aim,  under 
competent  leaders  who  shall  big-brother  them, 
and  never  let  go  till  they  make  them  men.  In 
other  words,  when  the  group  gets  the  spirit 
of  the  mass  club,  it  is  sure  to  succeed  better. 
And  when  the  mass  club  leader,  as  is  con- 
spicuously the  case  with  John  Gunckel  of 
Toledo,  does  his  wholesale  work  on  the  retail 
plan — running  the  mass  club  intensively — he 
gets  the  splendid  group  club  results  in 
character  and  permanency. 

However,  the  by-laws  of  boyhood  seem  to 
indicate  the  natural  periods  when  each  of 
these  plans  will  most  naturally  appeal  to  the 
growing  boy.  It  may  be  worth  while  to  see 
how  it  works  out,  though  wide  divergence 
must  be  expected,  due  to  variant  local  condi- 
tions. 

Normally  the  home  remains  the  boy's 
refuge — or   "prisoner's  base,"   according  to 


CLUBS  FOR  BOYS  17 S 

circumstances — until  he  is  seven  or  eight. 
Unless  his  migratory  instinct  is  unusually 
persistent  he  seldom  gets  far  from  this  home 
center,  in  which  his  social  group  is  simply  his 
own  famil}'.  Up  to  three  years  or  so  his 
whole  world  is  the  household,  widening  for  a 
year  or  two  only  to  include  relatives  and 
other  visitors  and  perhaps  the  little  girl  the 
other  side  of  the  garden.  But  at  five, 
possibly,  he  begins  to  annex  the  neighbor- 
hood; suspiciously  and  in  some  cases  for 
predatory  or  military  purposes  only.  Still 
self-centered,  the  boy  of  seven  or  eight  finds 
his  brother  Jonathan,  and  a  few  choice 
kindred  spirits  who  play  and  quarrel  nicely 
every  day  and  make  it  up  next  morning. 
Th:s  clan  period  of  childhood  has  evidently 
a  short  radius  to  its  social  circle,  and  up  to 
ten  years  the  group  method  in  neighborhood 
and  Sunday-school  is  all  that  fits.  A  crowd 
bewilders  the  youngsters  into  bashful  silence 
if  not  tears. 

If  the  boy's  social  geography  permits,  he 
outgrows  the  clan  period  soon  after  ten  and 
joins  the  gang,  a  larger  group  that  is  auto- 
matically generated  by  a  sort  of  spontaneous 
combustion  which  always  occurs  when  twenty 
boys    of    ten    to    twelve    happen    the    same 


174  BOY  LIFE 

summer  to  live  in  the  same  block.  He  is  now 
rapidly  developing  the  will  achievements  of 
self-control  and  comradeship.  As  fast  as 
his  social  capacity  develops  he  enlarges  the 
circle  of  his  activities,  and  our  work  with 
him  should  keep  pace.  He  is  probably  ready 
for  the  mass  club  when  the  gang  spirit  is  well 
developed ;  but  at  first,  even  in  the  mass  club, 
he  needs  to  be  shepherded  in  a  group  within 
the  mass  lest  he  be  overawed  by  the  older 
boys.  He  must  avoid  being  lost  in  the  crowd. 
He  should  preserve  his  individuality,  his 
ingenuity,  and  not  stunt  his  growing  initia- 
tive by  the  strange  hypnotic  influence  of  the 
crowd.  There  is  less  danger  of  this  in  the 
case  of  the  impulsive  type  with  precipitate 
will. 

The  best  period  for  the  simple  mass  club 
is  the  chivalric  period  of  the  boy,  when  he  is 
developing  personal  loyalty — racially  the 
feudal  period  of  absolute  monarchy.  Here 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  crowd  is  particularly 
welcome  and  stimulating,  and  his  response 
to  the  club  leader  will  be  the  strong  loyalty 
of  hero  worship;  but  if  possible,  the  mass 
club  would  best  be  made  up  of  group  units 
even  then. 

WTien  the  self-assertive  period  comes,  how- 


CLUBS  FOR  BOYS  175 

ever,  the  case  is  different.  Mass  methods  will 
not  work  so  well,  particularly  with  high 
school  boys.  The  boy  of  fifteen  is  very  class 
conscious.  He  looks  up,  never  down,  for  his 
comrades  and  refuses  to  be  catalogued  in  "a 
kids'  club."  There  is  a  strong  tendency  now 
toward  the  close  comradeship  of  a  select 
group,  and  the  fraternity  plan  is  conspicu- 
ously successful  just  here.  As  soon  as 
leadership  begins  to  develop,  however,  with 
increasing  self-reliance  the  young  man 
welcomes  a  larger  scope  for  action  and 
influence,  and  finds  it  again  in  the  mass  club. 
At  this  period  the  correlation  of  mass  and 
group  methods  is  very  desirable,  in  order  that 
the  developing  initiative  and  independence 
may  find  practice  and  opportunity  while  the 
intensive  thoroughness  of  the  group  method 
is  developing  the  rich  vein  of  worth  while 
interests.  First  group,  then  mass,  then 
group,  then  both  plans  for  older  boys,  seems 
to  be  the  pedagogical  order.  But  we  must 
remember  that  the  influence  of  a  strong  per- 
sonality overrides  all  obstacles,  and  these 
suggestions  will  not  hold  when  environment 
dictates  the. contrary.  A  strong,  attractive 
personality  will  build  up  a  splendid  mass  club 
work  if  he  sets  about  it,  by  the  sheer  force  of 


176  BOY  LIFE 

personal  magnetism.  Or  if  he  choose  to 
gather  a  little  group  about  him,  instead  of 
the  crowd,  he  will  do  so,  and  can  practically 
pick  his  boys.  The  relative  ease  or  difficulty 
of  the  process,  at  different  periods,  will  be 
explained  in  part,  at  least,  by  the  sugges- 
tions given  above. 

In  general,  the  law  of  the  social  radius  will 
be  found  a  fair  guide  in  this  question  of 
group  or  mass  clubs.  The  size  of  successful 
boys'  clubs  will  depend  upon  the  boys'  social 
radius.  In  general,  the  boy's  social  radius, 
and  therefore  his  social  capacity,  increases 
normally  as  the  boy  grows  older.  The  nota- 
ble exception  is  the  cliquey  period  of  high 
school  life,  with  its  reaction  of  exclusiveness. 

A  modern  psychologist  naively  says  "the 
story  of  the  subconscious  mind  can  be  quickly 
told ;  there  isn't  any."  Then  he  proceeds 
to  describe  just  about  what  other  people 
describe  as  the  functioning  of  the  subcon- 
scious mind,  though  he  eschews  the  name ! 
Likewise,  I  would  say  of  the  place  of  the 
secret  fraternity  in  boys'  work,  there  isn't 
any  place  for  it;  and  I  have  yet  to  find  any 
boy  worker  who  really  advocates  it.  Yet, 
there  are  elements  in  such  clubs  as  the  Phi 
Alpha   Pi,   the  Pilgrim   Fraternity   and   the 


CLUBS  FOR  BOYS  177 

Knights  of  King  Arthur,  etc.,  which  have 
led  the  uninitiated  to  class  them  with  secret 
fraternities.  They  are  all  fraternities,  but 
none  of  them  are  secret,  except  as  every 
well-regulated  family,  by  mutual  consent, 
keeps  its  own  counsel  as  it  chooses. 

With  our  modern  facilities  for  publicity, 
perhaps  it  may  truthfully  be  said  that  there 
are  no  really  secret  fraternities  anyway  this 
side  of  the  Italian  Mafia  and  the  Tongs  of 
China!  About  all  the  secrets  have  by  this 
time  leaked  out.  More  and  more  the 
members  of  secret  organizations  are  empha- 
sizing their  fraternal  element  and  minimizing 
the  secret  element. 

However,  there  are  two  factors  which  make 
the  fraternity  plan  with  ritual  elements 
particularly  useful  with  boys.  The  first  is 
the  growing  demand  of  the  adolescent  for  the 
close  comradeship  of  his  own  kind ;  and  the 
other  is  the  diminishing  demand  of  the  adoles- 
cent for  spectacular  display.  The  gang 
spirit  of  early  adolescence  ripens  into  the 
fraternal  spirit  of  the  high  school  and  college 
periods.  My  personal  experience  has  con- 
vinced me  that  the  key  to  the  young  man 
problem  is  the  frank,  close  friendship  of  a 
fraternity    of   boys   in    comradeship    with    a 


178  BOY  LIFE 

right-hearted  man,  not  too  much  older. 
Just  this  is  the  weakest  point  in  the  work  of 
the  average  church,  and  most  ministers  seem 
to  consider  it  an  impossible  problem.  How- 
ever, for  a  number  of  years  I  have  personally 
enjoyed  the  fascinations  and  rewards  of  the 
young  man  problem  even  more  than  I  have 
the  jolly  contradictions  and  naivete  of  the 
boy  problem. 

I  do  not  consider  it  an  especially  difficult 
problem,  provided  you  have  the  right  sort 
of  an  adult  adviser  who  can  be  the  social 
magnet  around  which  the  fraternal  cluster 
may  gather.  Young  fellows  of  sixteen  to 
the  early  twenties  will  respond  sometimes 
with  remarkable  keenness  to  advances  from  a 
manly  pastor  or  teacher  who  offers  them  his 
friendship  in  the  charmed  circle  of  a  real 
brotherhood.  And  wlien  once  this  charmed 
circle  has  developed  coherence,  strength, 
unity  and  the  pecuhar  camaraderie  which  is 
indescribable  but  precious,  then,  if  you  chance 
to  be  that  social  magnet  aforesaid,  you  can 
lead  those  young  men  into  any  sort  of  service 
which  your  own  enthusiasm  can  make 
genuinely  attractive  to  them. 

Now  as  to  the  element  of  secrecy  already 
referred  to.      Oaths  of  secrecy  are  not  at  all 


CLUBS  FOR  BOYS  179 

necessary  or  desirable;  and  none  of  these 
boys'  or  young  men's  fraternities  require 
them.  They  can,  therefore,  not  be  called 
secret  organizations,  any  more  than  your 
oathless  household  can  so  be  styled.  But  on 
the  other  hand,  the  custom  of  reserve, 
privacy,  caution,  restraint,  reticence,  discreet 
secrecy  if  you  please,  not  only  may  wisely 
be  encouraged  by  your  fraternity,  because 
these  traits  of  character  and  qualities  of 
mind  are  distinct  virtues  in  civilized  man- 
hood; but  also  because  at  just  this  period  in 
youth,  the  appeal  to  secrecy  finds  a  most 
welcome  response  and  gives  a  coherence  to 
the  organization  which  makes  the  fraternal 
bond  as  strong  as  steel. 

This  distinction  may  at  first  seem  trivial. 
You  may  think  there  is  no  difference 
between  a  fraternity  with  secrets  and  a  secret 
fraternity,  and  so  it  sounds.  But  there  is 
a  difference  nevertheless,  and  it  is  a  vital  one. 
Let  us  not  stand  for  anything  that  is  clan- 
destine, stealthy,  sly  or  underhanded,  or 
secrecy  enforced  by  oath.  But  let  us 
develop  in  our  boys'  clubs  discreet,  self- 
restrained  secrecy,  enforced  simply  by  mutual 
consent,  as  in  the  normal  home.  I  think  this 
distinction   is    what   President    Hall   had   in 


180  BOY  LIFE 

inind  when  just  after  he  has  punctured  with 
a  volley  of  keen  criticism  the  oaths  and 
pledges  of  3'oung  people's  religious  societies, 
with  seeming  inconsistency,  but  entire  reason- 
ableness he  adds  this  paragraph,  which  is 
dircctl}'  in  point  here: 

"The  following  conclusion  at  least  seems 
warranted.  Every  adolescent  boy  ought  to 
belong  to  some  club  or  society,  marked  by  as 
much  secrecy  as  is  compatible  with  safety. 
Something  esoteric,  mysterious,  a  symbolic 
badge,  countersign,  a  lodge  and  its  equip- 
ment, and  perhaps  other  things  owned  in 
common,  give  a  real  basis  for  comradeship. 
This  permits,  too,  the  abandon  of  freedom  in 
its  yeasty  stage,  which  is  another  deep 
phyletic  factor  of  the  social  instinct.  Inno- 
cent rioting,  reveling  with  much  Saturnalian 
violence,  vents  the  anarchistic  instincts  in 
ways  least  injurious  to  the  community  and 
makes  docility  and  subordination  more  easy 
and  natural  in  their  turn.  Provision  of  time 
and  place  for  barbarisms,  or  idiotic  nonsense 
without  adult  restraint,  helps  youth  to  pass 
naturally  through  this  larval  stage  of  candi- 
dacy to  humanity. 

*'Their  celebration  of  their  dawning  future 
In  an  ascendant  age  and  race  is  in  many  a 


CLUBS  FOR  BOYS  181 

curious  way  the  counterpart  of  the  Indian 
ghost  dance,  which  invokes  and  worships  a 
lost  glory  in  its  evening  twilight.  The  com- 
memorations of  the  lost  paradise  of  the  red 
men  of  the  stone  age  are  in  some  respects  a 
remarkable  intaglio  of  the  perfervid  ways  in 
which  youth  hails  the  golden  age  to  come. 

"Such  an  organization  must  select  its 
members  according  to  the  natural  instincts 
of  affinity,  with  power  to  discipline  or  expel 
those  found  too  unlikeminded.  It  will  prob- 
ably have  a  ritual  of  initiation,  with  grades 
of  apprenticeship  in  the  novitiate,  the  lowest 
involving  much  subserviency,  almost  like  that 
of  the  villein  to  the  manorial  court,  and  all 
perhaps  symbolic  of  the  putting  off  the  old 
isolated  self  by  regeneration  into  a  larger 
new  social  existence.  If  such  a  spontaneous 
organization  of  boys  in  the  later  teens  has 
any  inner  work,  it  is  not  likely  to  be  the  direct 
promotion  of  piety  or  any  form  of  outside 
social  service,  but  is  most  likely  to  be 
dramatic  or  musical,  or  to  promote  debate  or 
declamation,  and  to  cultivate  a  peculiar  form 
of  group  honor,  the  best  form  of  which  for 
this  age  is  the  idealized  court  of  King  Arthur. 
In  cultivating  friendship  intensely  for  a 
small    circle,    conscious    of    representing   the 


182  BOY  LIFE 

corps  to  others,  many  academic  youth  would 
owe  more  to  this  circle  than  to  the  curriculum 
and  faculty.  But  as  enjoyment  and  self- 
culture  must  slowly  yield  to  service,  so 
neither  this  nor  any  one  type  suffices,  and 
every  youth  should  connect  himself  with  as 
many  other  associations  of  diverse  type  as 
practicable ;  for  at  this  age  when  individu- 
ality may  be  lost  in  one  group  only,  it  is 
saved  and  developed  by  several.  In  fine, 
group  selfishness  is  the  first  step  in  over- 
coming individual  isolation."^ 

It  is,  of  course,  evident  that  the  special 
susceptibility  of  boys  to  the  appeal  of  ritual 
and  the  spectacular  and  the  mysteriousness 
of  initiations  is  due  to  their  inherited 
instincts.  This  is  apparently  the  stage  when 
most  normally  they  express  these  instincts 
which  were  so  deeply  fixed  in  savage  and 
barbarian  customs.  The  great  variety  of 
pubic  initiations,  ethically  graded  all  the 
way  from  the  revolting  practices  of  the  Kosa 
tribe  in  Africa  to  the  dignified  assumption  of 
the  toga  virilis  among  the  Romans,  indicate 
how  deeply  ingrained  in  the  history  of  the 
race  is  the  element  of  initiation  in  middle 
adolescence  or  earlier.     This  age-long  race 


1   II.-ilI,  "Adolesronre,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  429. 


CLUBS  FOR  BOYS  183 

habit  of  public  initiation,  finding  its  normal 
response  in  adolescent  boyhood,  accounts  for 
the  special  susceptibility  of  our  older  boys 
to  the  appeal  of  mystery,  ritual  and  the  spec- 
tacular in  their  select  fraternal  circles. 
There  is,  of  course,  opportunity  for  grave 
abuses,  and  quite  likely  many  illustrations 
could  be  collected  if  sought  for.  But  rightly 
guided  and  stripped  of  all  clandestine  and 
underhanded  elements,  this  instinct  for  initia- 
tion rites  may  be  safely  expressed  and  wisely 
utilized  by  workers  with  boys.  It  offers  the 
key  to  many  a  boy's  heart,  which  heretofore 
had  been  an  impregnable  fortress  of  formid- 
able reserve. 

Let  me  here  mention  a  few  principles  which 
should  govern  all  work  of  this  general  type, 
particularly  with  middle  adolescents : 

The  fraternity  plan  is  necessarily  in 
danger  of  exclusiveness.  It  owes  its  grip  on 
the  boys  partly  to  this  fact.  But  it  should 
be  regarded  by  the  leader  as  a  stage  of 
progress  which  should  not  become  permanent. 
Group  selfishness  is  the  natural  step  between 
egoism  and  altruism. 

After  the  fraternity  has  succeeded  in  lead- 
ing the  boys  out  of  selfish  individualism  into 
the  broader  group  selfishness,  the  positive,  or 


184  BOY  LIFE 

obverse  of  this,  wliich  is  group  honor,  the 
good-of-the-order,  should  be  emphasized, 
until  the  height  of  life  is  found  in  the  beauty 
of  self-forgetful  service.  Then  altruism  is 
easy  and  natural. 

The  Phi  Alpha  Pi  motto,  "Help  the  Other 
Fellow,"  is  ideal.  Usually  this  stage  must 
be  prepared  for  by  developing  a  well-rounded 
personality  in  boys  who  are  uneven  in  their 
growing  manhood.  The  appeal,  therefore, 
to  complete  manliness  is  the  normal  appeal 
which  crowns  and  completes  right-hearted 
selfness,  and  prepares  for  efficient  service. 
Then  comes  altruism.  Of  course  the  two 
motives  can  be  worked  together,  as  much  of 
this  development  should  be  parallel. 

The  accusation  of  exclusiveness  can  be 
avoided  by  setting  a  high  standard  for  fra- 
ternity membership,  thus  making  natural 
selection  the  chief  eliminator. 

The  evils  of  exclusiveness  may  be  avoided 
by  introducing  new  fraternities,  or  new 
chapters  of  the  same,  as  fast  as  the  number 
of  the  boys  justifies  it. 

Criticism  may  be  avoided  by  inviting  one 
or  more  congenial  men  to  be  honorary 
members  and  attend  sessions  occasionally. 
This  is  especially  desirable  in  a  church  fra- 


CLUBS  FOR  BOYS  185 

ternity,  and  disarms  criticism,  particularly 
on  the  score  of  secrecy. 

The  intermeshing  of  major  and  minor  clubs 
is  an  interesting  and  sometimes  a  serious 
question  for  consideration. 

Varying  with  the  natural  social  radius  of 
the  boy  and  his  tendency  to  scatter  fire 
socially  rather  than  to  become  absorbed  in 
few  interests,  this  intermeshing  or  social 
rivalry  will  be  discovered.  It  is  particularly 
troublesome  in  the  case  of  high  school  boys 
who  are  disproportionately  absorbed  in  the 
complicated  interests  of  high  school  activi- 
ties, especially  in  the  cities,  and  sometimes 
have  no  time  or  strength  left  for  church  or 
Association  work. 

The  whole  problem  of  course  is  to  get 
the  boy  to  determine  which  really  are  the 
major  clubs.  It  is  purely  a  question  of 
relative  values  and  true  proportion  and 
perspective.  This  is  a  matter  for  tactful, 
careful  private  conference.  About  the  best 
time  for  such  a  conference  is  after  you  notice 
that  the  boy  has  had  a  new  vision  of  life 
values,  or  a  new  inspiration,  gained  at  some 
religious  meeting  possibly,  or  in  the  revela- 
tion of  a  new  found  joy  in  worth  while  service. 
Then  is  the  time  to  put  a  new  perspective  in 


186  BOY  LIFE 

the  boy's  own  estimate  of  the  different  sorts 
of  clubs  he  is  putting  his  time  and  strength 
Into. 

The  question  of  number  is  fundamental 
also.  You  notice  that  Stanley  Hall  pre- 
scribes that  the  boy  join  "as  many  clubs  of 
diverse  type  as  practicable,"  in  order  to 
"preserve  his  individuality."  I  am  not  con- 
vinced that  this  is  good  advice.  Experience 
with  adult  "jiners"  indicates  that  a  man  who 
joins  ten  or  a  dozen  orders  finally  loses  all 
individuality — if  in  fact  he  has  enough  to 
start  with  to  give  him  courage  to  stand  on 
his  own  feet  and  not  lean  on  a  dozen  different 
sorts  of  "brothers." 

President  Hyde  is,  of  course,  correct  in 
saying  that  a  man's  life  is  rich  in  proportion 
to  the  range  of  interests  he  makes  his  own. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  growing  boy.  But 
tlie  social  capacity  of  the  boy  determines  how 
many  different  interests  he  really  can  make 
his  own,  and  do  justice  to.  Our  high  school 
boys  particularly  are  suffering  keenly  from 
scattering  their  interests,  and  are  becoming 
habitually  superficial,  if  not  also  physically 
exhausted.  Concentration  is  the  word  to 
emphasize.  Encourage  the  boys  to  do  fewer 
things  and  cultivate  accuracy,  patience  and 


CLUBS  FOR  BOYS  187 

thoroughness.  Then,  with  just  discrimina- 
tion between  clubs  with  a  purpose  and  mere 
pastime  affairs,  the  intermeshing  Mill  fall  in 
line  naturally,  as  the  right  of  way  is  given 
in  order  of  relative  importance. 

The  girl  complication  of  the  hoy  problem 
is  a  matter  demanding  increasing  attention, 
and  the  subject  deserves  more  careful  treat- 
ment than  space  will  allow  here.  Our 
interest  in  it  in  this  connection  is  mainly  the 
social  one,  the  bearing  of  the  girl  question, 
not  on  boys  as  individuals,  but  upon  their 
organizations. 

The  girl  problem  is  far  more  intricate  than 
the  boy  problem,  and  is  certainly  farther  from 
any  solution.  It  awaits  the  thorough,  pains- 
taking investigation  of  consecrated  female 
scholarship.  Its  intricacies  are  beyond  the 
comprehension  of  mere  man.  I  would 
humbly  suggest  that  it  is  high  time  the 
women  got  after  this  girl  problem  with  the 
same  zest  and  the  same  sense  of  its  vital  con- 
cern with  which  the  men  have  given  their  best 
attention  to  the  boy  problem.  So  painfully 
acute  is  the  girl  problem,  in  more  than  one 
city,  that  little  progress  can  be  made  with 
the  boys  now  until  something  more  definite 
and  comprehensive  Is  done  to  save  the  girls. 


188  BOY  LIFE 

So  long  as  the  little  boy  is  willing  to  play 
dolls,  and  the  small  girl  responds  by  keeping 
store  or  even  playing  Indian,  the  two  get 
along  very  nicely  as  playmates ;  but  the  gang 
period  divorces  them,  and  their  social  ways 
become  more  and  more  divergent,  as  the 
instincts  of  each  become  more  and  more 
strikingly  variant.  There  is  little  in  common 
between  the  predatory  youngsters  of  the 
barbarian  period  and  the  motherly  little  miss 
with  the  homing  instinct  and  the  civilizing 
cares  and  responsibilities  of  a  large  family 
of  dolls !  Neither  is  likely  to  appreciate  the 
other  for  several  years  to  come.  It  seems  to 
be  nature's  way  to  segregate  the  sexes  rather 
effectually  during  the  agitated  period  of 
pubescence.  The  interests  of  each  are 
usually  very  different,  so  much  so  that  they 
can  with  difficulty  understand  each  other, 
having  little  in  common,  and  consequently  are 
more  inclined  to  quarrel  and  tease  than  to 
play  together  amicably. 

The  situation  is  often  aggravated  by  the 
fact  that  the  girl  at  this  period  is  likely  to 
be  physically  and  perhaps  mentally  the  boy's 
superior,  as  her  growth  is  accelerated  so  that 
she  matures  normally  at  least  two  years  ahead 
of  him.     For  this  reason  boys  about  this  time 


CLUBS  FOR  BOYS  189 

quit  the  companionship  of  girls  of  their  own 
age  and  usually  never  renew  it.  When, 
several  years  later,  they  again  discover  the 
other  sex,  with  the  interest  not  of  childhood 
but  of  adolescence,  they  probably  become 
interested  in  a  younger  set  of  girls. 
Naturally  school  relations  somewhat  modify 
this  tendency. 

We  noticed  in  Chapter  VI.  the  well-known 
fact  that  girls  and  boys  between  ten  and 
seventeen  do  not  naturally,  spontaneously, 
organize  together.  However,  there  are 
always  boy-girls  and  girl-boys,  who  illustrate 
the  opposite  tendency,  the  girls  being  usually 
of  an  athletic  turn,  the  "tomboy"  type;  and 
the  boys  usually  the  opposite,  the  non- 
athletic  boy,  who  shows  very  slightly  the 
recapitulation  tendency.  The  sissy  boy  with 
the  girl  fever  probably  needs  a  good  stiff 
dose  of  out-of-door  games  more  than  he  needs 
parlor  athletics ! 

The  indication  is  clear  then  that  a  mixed 
organization  during  early  adolescence  as 
well  as  later  childhood  is  pretty  sure  to  fail. 
This  explains  much  of  the  history  of  the 
Junior  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor.  But 
we  should  avoid  the  extreme  of  entire  separa- 
tion of  the  sexes  at  this  period.     An  occa- 


190  BOY  LIFE 

sional  mixed  social,  carefully  regulated, 
would  be  a  wholesome  thing  for  both  boys 
and  girls ;  giving  to  both  sexes  what  Dr.  Hall 
calls  tonicity.  The  boys  are  sure  to  do  their 
very  best  in  athletic  games,  also,  if  the  girls 
are  present,  like  fair  ladies  at  the  ancient 
tournaments.  Separate  societies,  like  the 
Knights  of  King  Arthur  and  the  Ladies  of 
Avilion,  may  well  be  managed  parallel,  with 
an  occasional  joint  session,  largely  for  social 
purposes.  The  civilizing  effect  upon  the 
young  knights  is  quite  noticeable ;  always 
provided  that  such  juvenile  parties  are 
thoroughly  planned  and  conducted  by  adults. 

In  the  middle  adolescent  period  the  boys 
arc  still  shy  of  girls  in  the  plural — and  in 
fact,  most  of  them,  when  grown  men,  are 
destined  never  to  get  over  it.  But  woman 
in  the  singular  interests  them  more  and  more. 
It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  awkward 
boy,  who  is  apt  to  be  the  butt  of  the  quips 
and  sallies  of  a  bunch  of  girls,  can  single  out 
a  favored  one  and  not  only  escape  her  ridi- 
cule, but  even  win  her  smiles ! 

In  cities  or  suburban  towns,  where  social 
life  is  more  highly  developed  than  in  the 
country,  the  young  folks  of  high  school  age 
have  sufficient  practice  in  the  social  arts  and 


CLUBS  FOR  BOYS  191 

graces  so  that  this  shyness  and  mutual  diffi- 
dence departs  and  they  welcome  all  attractive 
social  privileges.  But  when  it  comes  to  the 
question  of  mutual  organization,  it  seldom 
occurs  spontaneously.  Their  interests  are 
still  widely  different.  Even  in  the  college 
period,  there  seems  to  be  no  tendency  to 
organize  together,  except  for  social  purposes 
purely ;  and  it  is  probably  better  so.  I 
should  say,  however,  that  an  occasional 
ladies'  night,  to  witness  a  debate  or  mock  trial 
or  some  program  of  special  excellence,  would 
be  a  good  ching  for  the  older  boys'  club. 
The  Senior  Christian  Endeavor  society  may 
still  be  successful  with  both  sexes,  but  I 
believe  in  having  a  separate  religious  meeting 
for  the  young  men  in  addition  to  it,  if 
possible. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  ASSOCIATION'S  WORK  WITH  BOYS 

This  brief  chapter  will  not  undertake  to 
describe  the  vast  work  for  the  boys  of 
America  which  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  is  doing  today.  Our  purpose  is 
merely  to  relate  this  work  to  the  subject  of 
self-government  in  boy  life,  and  to  indicate, 
in  passing,  the  Association's  unique  oppor- 
tunity if  it  applies  with  discrimination  the 
principles  of  progressive  self-government  in 
its  boys'  work.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to 
enter  upon  a  criticism  of  Association  meth- 
ods, but  I  do  wish  to  emphasize  the  crisis  of 
opportunity  which  the  boys'  department  is 
just  now  facing. 

It  is  a  magnificent  company  of  earnest 
young  men  that  is  enlisted  in  the  Associa- 
tion's boys'  work  in  this  country.  A  more 
energetic,  alert,  or  ingenious  body  of  men  it 
would  be  difficult  to  find.  With  a  winsome 
boyishness  of  their  own  which  has  survived 
the  ravages  of  increasing  years,  coupled 
with  an  utter  devotion  to  their  boys  which 
often    costs    much    sacrifice,    these   men    are 


194  BOY  LIFE 

"putting  their  lives  in"  in  a  masterly  way. 
As  a  rule  they  are  showing  great  patience 
and  tact  in  handling  this  lusty  young  army 
of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  million  young 
Americans,  a  tumultuous  host,  yeasty  with 
the  sudden  growth  of  untamed  impulses, 
bubbling  over  with  all  the  ardent  freshness 
of  life.  Hundreds  of  well-drilled  boys' 
classes  and  successful  clubs  in  very  many 
cities  testify  to  the  skillful  generalship  of 
the  leaders  as  well  as  the  splendid  raw  mate- 
rial with  which  they  have  been  working. 
Association  boys  are  becoming  manly  men, 
efficient.  Christian  men,  thanks  to  the  conse- 
crated cleverness  and  brotherliness  of  the 
secretaries  for  boys. 

The  work,  however,  has  been  largely 
experimental  and  the  methods  tentative  to 
a  greater  degree  than  in  the  men's  work, 
where  experience  has  a  longer  perspective 
and  the  ruts  are  deeper.  I  am  sure  that  all 
boys'  work  men  would  agree  that  no  tradi- 
tion of  the  Association  as  to  forms  and 
methods  should  be  considered  sacred  or  in- 
violable, and  that  no  form  of  administration 
is  inspired.  The  principles  of  boy  life  should 
dictate,  not  our  preconceived  notions  or  tra- 
ditions.    At  least,  one  thing  is  sure,  success 


ASSOCIATION  BOYS'  WORK       195 

with  boys  will  in  the  long  run  inevitably 
depend  upon  our  adopting  the  by-laws  of 
boyhood,  and  our  occasional  unwillingness 
to  do  this  explains  our  failures.  When  it 
comes  to  the  test  not  one  of  us  will  let  his 
devotion  to  the  means  Interfere  with  his 
devotion  to  the  end  of  our  labor,  the  welfare, 
the  salvation  of  our  boys. 

The  Boys'  Work  is  the  strategic  depart- 
ment of  the  whole  broad  field  of  Association 
effort.  It  even  undercuts  the  Student 
Department,  for  it  precedes  it,  anticipates 
It,  fructifies  it.  Yet  the  conviction  of  the 
vast  significance  of  the  work  with  boys  has 
been  of  very  slow  growth.  It  had  long  been 
quite  generally  regarded  as  inferior  work; 
an  opinion  which  is  still  embalmed  in  the 
constitution  of  some  city  Associations  where 
the  secretary  for  boys  is  a  subordinate,  if 
not  an  office  boy.  This  condition,  however, 
is  rapidly  changing.  We  are  awaking  to 
the  fact  that  among  all  Association  workers 
the  boy  workers  are  the  Board  of  Strategy, 
whose  plans  are  most  far-seeing  and  funda- 
mental, whose  work  has  the  greatest  lever- 
age on  life,  for  they  work  at  the  roots  of 
the  whole  great  problem  of  saving  the  man- 
hood of  a  nation.     Roosevelt  uttered  words 


196  BOY  LIFE 

of  solemn  truth  when  he  said:  "If  you  are 
going  to  do  anything  permanent  for  the 
average  man,  you  have  got  to  begin  before 
he  is  a  man.  The  chance  of  success  hes  in 
working  with  the  boy,  not  the  man."  This 
is  the  responsibiHty  and  the  glorious  incen- 
tive of  the  task  of  the  secretaries  for  boys. 
This  strategic  work,  which  has  prospered 
remarkably  in  recent  years,  has  vast  possi- 
bilities before  it  in  the  next  decade. 

Interest  in  boy  life,  intelligence  about  boy 
nature,  and  various  kinds  of  religious  and 
social  work  with  boys  is  increasing  yearly. 
It  has  gotten  beyond  the  fad  stage  of  super- 
ficial popularit3^  Even  fathers  and  men's 
clubs  have  at  last  discovered  the  boy  and  his 
needs.  There  is  now  a  great  movement  for 
boy-saving  and  the  making  of  manhood.  In 
this  movement  it  is  entirely  reasonable  that 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
should  retain  the  leadership.  It  has  the 
resources,  the  equipment,  the  traditions  and 
the  men.  But  it  must  adopt  the  by-laws  of 
boy  life,  or  it  will  lose  the  hoys.  Tlien  its 
splendid  buildings  would  be  monuments  to 
loving  generosity,  but  little  more.  It  would 
probably    never   lose    the    boys    of    a    dozen 


ASSOCIATION  BOYS'  WORK       197 

summers;  but  the  self-assertive  older  boys 
from  fifteen  to  twenty-one,  in  the  most  criti- 
cal period  of  human  life,  it  would  probably 
miss.  In  fact,  not  a  few  Associations  find 
already  a  yawning  gap  between  their  small 
boys'  ranks  and  the  men.  The  critical 
problem  of  the  Association,  as  well  as  the 
Church,  is  just  here:  how  to  win  and  hold 
these  older  boys  who  have  the  best  claim  on 
our  efforts  because  they  most  need  help,  and 
because  right  now  they  need  Jesus  Christ. 

I  discover  in  the  present  situation  two 
dangers.  Secretaries  for  boys  know  them 
well.  One  is  the  danger  of  giving  immature 
boys  premature  Hberties.  The  other  is 
treating  self-rehant  older  boys  like  little 
children. 

Here  and  there  you  meet  some  sanguine 
individual  who  suddenly  finds  a  panacea  for 
all  boy  workers'  troubles!  He  had  made 
the  mistake  hitherto  of  thinking  that  what 
the  boys  needed  was  discipline,  and  plenty 
of  it,  of  the  stifF,  old-fashioned  sort.  But 
no,  now  he  sees  what  they  need  is  liberty, 
self-government,  more  rope,  room  to  spread 
themselves,  with  no  adult  around  to  say.  No, 
Can't,  Don't  or  Stop,  to  them!     So  forth- 


198  BOY  LIFE 

with  he  applies  the  panacea.  He  applies  it 
with  the  same  delightful  impartiality  to 
small  boys  and  big  boys,  "kids,"  lads  and 
3'oungsters.  They  are  all  going  to  be  good 
now  and  act  like  nice  little  men !  No  more 
rough-house!  No  more  worry!  No  more 
police  work !  The  boys  will  take  care  of 
themselves. 

Of  course,  it  works  too  well.  The  boys 
who  are  mature  enough  appreciate  it  and 
respond  to  it.  The  youngsters  wink,  and 
let  loose  the  Indian  in  them.  Rough-house 
riot  reigns  supreme,  if  you  don't  watch  out; 
and  self-respecting  boys  leave  in  disgust. 
The  danger,  in  short,  is  the  abuse  of  a  good 
thing  by  working  it  indiscriminately  and 
unintelligently.  The  rather  sure  failure 
which  results  puts  back  progress  for  a 
decade.  After  such  a  fizzle  there  is  no  hope 
for  rational  self-government  for  a  boy  gen- 
eration. "It  does  not  work  here,"  is  the 
conclusive  fiat  of  directors  and  committee- 
men of  that  local  Association.  The  grow- 
ing popularity  of  self-government  and  its 
assured  success  in  certain  quarters  is  in- 
creasing the  danger  of  spoiling  the  reputa- 
tion and  delaying  the  progress  of  a  splendid 


ASSOCIATION  BOYS'  WORK       199 

thing,  simply  because  of  blundering  experi- 
ments. 

The  other  extreme  is  probably  still  the 
greater  danger.  Boys  in  many  quarters 
have  not  yet  overcome  the  popular  prejudice 
and  suspicion  that  they  are  "little  devils." 
Older  boys  have  not  yet  proved  to  their 
elders  the  folly  of  treating  them  either  as 
boys  or  men,  for  they  are  neither.  Conserv- 
ative directors  do  not  dare  to  trust  val- 
uable property  to  fellows  whom  they  con- 
temptuously style  "irresponsible  young- 
sters," though  they  may  be  high  school  stu- 
dents. INIeanwhile  that  Association  is  likely 
to  have  all  the  merits  and  demerits  of  an 
absolute  monarchy — with  a  secretary-boss 
at  the  desk,  and  the  committees  subservient 
to  his  orders ;  while  such  big  boys  as  remain 
tiptoe  around  as  if  they  were  in  a  holy  Car- 
negie library,  afraid  of  taking  the  shine  off 
the  marble.  The  boys  are  pretty  likely  to 
take  the  same  thrilling  interest  in  such  an 
enterprise  as  Bill  Sprat  the  peasant  took  in 
old  English  days,  when  he  simply  had  the 
privilege  of  paying  his  taxes ;  and  he  then 
did  his  best  to  "do"  the  government,  since 
he  could  not  do  the  governing. 

Acquaintance   with   many    secretaries    for 


200  BOY  LIFE 

boys  convinces  me  that  they  are  all  anxious 
to  avoid  these  two  extremes,  and  to  utilize 
but  not  abuse  the  self-government  princi- 
ple; for  most  of  us  have  at  least  a  suspicion 
that  somehow  this  is  the  key  principle  in 
developing  manliness  in  boys.  I  apprehend 
that  if  it  can  be  discovered  how  to  apply 
this  principle  by  degrees,  with  the  increasing 
self-reliance  and  responsibility  of  developing 
boyhood,  and  meanwhile  preserve  respectable 
order  and  save  the  property,  we  should  all 
accept  the  plan.  A  thorough  study  of  the 
principles  of  boy  development  should  furnish 
us  at  least  the  basis  for  a  plan.  The  local 
conditions  must  develop  and  will  dictate  the 
details  of  the  plan. 

Foreign  missions  are  now  conducted  on 
the  principle  that  each  nation  must  be  Chris- 
tianized by  natives.  In  general  it  is  true 
that  redemption  is  by  resident  forces,  vital- 
ized by  divine  power.  Americans  are  learn- 
ing that  they  can  never  evangelize  the  world 
alone,  even  with  the  help  of  God.  China  is 
to  be  saved  by  the  Chinese.  Our  task  is  to 
train  up  in  each  nation  a  splendid  corps  of 
native  missionaries  who  have  caught  our 
vision,  and  then  trust  them  to  win  out  for 
Christ  with  their  own  countrymen. 


ASSOCIATION  BOYS'  WORK       201 

We  may  as  well  face  the  fact  that  we 
workers  with  boys  are  inevitably  foreign 
missionaries  in  the  boy's  world.  We  may 
learn  again  to  speak  his  language  and  under- 
stand his  boy  philosophy ;  but  he  cannot  for- 
get that  we  are  foreigners  from  the  world  of 
grown-ups  and  will  regard  us  with  some 
reserve.  Boys  must  be  won  and  saved  by 
hoys.  The  religious  work  of  the  Association 
is  doing  splendidly  on  this  principle.  The 
successful  County  Work  likewise  is  frankly 
depending  upon  resident  forces  and  is  win- 
ning by  it.  The  principle  should  be  applied 
consistently  and  universally.  It  is  needed 
even  in  the  field  of  administration. 

The  leverage  on  every  epoch  of  boy  life 
is  the  age  next  older ;  near  enough  to  it  to 
gain  confidence  and  admiration,  yet  enough 
older  to  hold  respect.  For  instance,  the 
grammar  school  boy  is  the  natural  leader  of 
the  boys  in  the  gang  period.  He  can  make 
slaves  of  them,  if  he  is  mean  enough ;  and 
sometimes  the  bully  does.  The  high  school 
boy,  if  so  disposed,  can  do  wonders  in  devel- 
oping the  manliness  of  the  boy  in  the  chiv- 
alry period ;  and  best  of  all,  as  the  solution 
of  our  most  perplexing  problem,  the  self- 
assertive  boy  in  middle  adolescence  yields  to 


202  BOY  LIFE 

the  magnetic  influence  of  the  older  adolescent 
as  quickly  as  the  compass  to  the  pole.  That 
is  why  it  is  so  appropriate  to  call  this  last 
period  of  youth  the  cooperative  period.  The 
boys  of  seventeen  to  twenty-four  are  our 
right-hand  men,  on  whom  we  can  count  to 
help  us  win  the  bo3^s.  Sometimes  the  college 
boy  or  the  young  man  in  business  is  about 
the  only  person  the  high  school  boy  looks  up 
to  or  will  listen  to.  Yet  to  him  he  readily 
gives  allegiance  and  he  gladly  accepts  his 
leadership.  A  moment's  reflection  will  assure 
us  that  the  principle  holds  all  the  way  down 
the  boyhood  line.  The  leverage  on  every 
epoch  of  boy  life  is  the  age  next  older. 

Now  if  we  honestly  accept  this  law  of  the 
leverage,  we  are  bound  to  utilize  the  boys  in 
helping  us  run  the  Association  and  care  for 
the  building.  Otherwise,  our  seeking  their 
cooperation  in  other  matters  will  be  hardly 
sincere.  The  fundamental  argument  for 
self-government  is  so  primary  it  hardly  needs 
emphasis  here.  It  has  been  implicit  in  all 
our  discussion.  It  is  very  apparent  that 
trustworthiness  is  developed  by  trust ;  that 
honor  is  multiplied  when  put  on  honor;  that 
active  interest  is  increased  by  active  partici- 
pation ;  that  when  the  boys  who  are  worthy 


ASSOCIATION  BOYS'  WORK       203 

are  trusted  with  responsibility,  their  manH- 
ness  and  self-rehance  rapidly  grows.  When 
it  once  gets  into  the  boy's  mind  that  the 
Association  is  his  and  the  building  is  his,  he 
stops  banging  the  furniture  and  abusing  the 
gjnnnasium,  and  gets  busy  supporting  the 
administration;  just  because  he  is  it. 


CHAPTER  XI 

PROGRESSIVE   SELF-GOVERNMENT 
AMONG   BOYS 

Having  established  the  essential  Tightness 
of  the  self-government  principle  as  the  best 
working  policy  for  older  boys  and,  in  a 
measure,  with  all  boys,  the  question  of  detail 
and  method  now  confronts  us. 

It  is  clear  that  failures  in  applying  this 
principle  are  usually  due  to  lack  of  discrimi- 
nation in  the  different  epochs  of  boyhood. 
The  only  self-government  which  is  reason- 
able or  safe  is  progressive,  graded  self- 
government,  fitted  to  the  capacity  of  the 
boys.  As  a  clue  to  the  governmental  capac- 
ity of  the  boy  in  different  periods,  we  have 
studied  the  political  history  of  the  race  for 
the  period  which  the  boy  is  recapitulating. 
Let  us  follow  then,  not  slavishly,  but  with 
reasonable  closeness,  the  results  of  our  race- 
epochs  study,  in  order  to  make  the  self- 
government  principle  fit  the  average  attain- 
ment of  each  boy  period.  We  should  bear 
in  mind,  however,  the  one  universal  law  of 
boy  leadership,  that  personality  overrides  all 


206  BOY  LIFE 

obstacles  in  boys'  work  and  can,  if  sufficiently 
virile  and  magnetic,  negative  all  rules  and 
Avin  success  against  all  odds,  because  of  sheer 
personal  power  and  attractiveness.  This 
explains  why  certain  men,  extraordinary 
men,  by  the  force  of  exceptional  personality, 
get  such  remarkable  results  from  their  work 
with  boys  without  paying  any  particular 
attention  to  the  scientific  study  of  boy  devel- 
opment. They  can  break  all  the  common 
laws  of  boy  life  with  impunity,  because  tlie 
boys  are  subject  to  the  higher  laws  of  per- 
sonal influence.  Particularly  is  this  true 
sometimes  with  young  boys  in  the  chivalry 
period.  Loyalty  to  the  superior  will  of  the 
strong  personality  who  has  gripped  them, 
practically  hypnotized  them,  leads  them  to  do 
his  bidding  with  a  marvelous  faithfulness. 

Such  boys  may  even  be  led  to  think  they 
are  self-governing !  But  really  they  are  being 
skilfully,  unobtrusively  controlled  by  a  benev- 
olent despotism.  Doubtless  this  is  just  the 
sort  of  treatment  best  adapted  to  young  boys 
in  the  feudal  period.  They  are  not  ready 
for  complete  self-government,  any  more  than 
were  the  knights  and  esquires  of  feudal  Eng- 
land. But  not  all  workers  with  boys  are 
geniuses    or   mesmeric    personalities.        Most 


SELF-GOVERNMENT  207 

of  us  have  to  follow  the  laws  of  hoy  life  or 
suffer  chagrin  and  failure.  Our  personality 
is  not  able  to  compel  success.  It  is  well  for 
us,  therefore,  to  diminish  our  handicap  to 
the  minimum  by  following  closely  such  laws 
of  boy  success  as  we  can  discover.  Certainly 
our  success  with  boys  will  be  greater  in  pro- 
portion as  we  follow  the  clue  in  a  graded 
system  of  self-government,  progressively 
adapted  to  the  progress  in  the  boys'  attain- 
ments. 

Without  treating  in  detail  the  childhood 
periods,  where  real  self-government  is  mani- 
festly illogical  if  not  quite  impossible,  it  is 
worth  mentioning  in  passing,  that  the  suc- 
cess of  the  Brotherhood  of  David  with  boys 
of  the  clan  and  tribal  periods  of  develop- 
ment, and  the  success  of  the  Knights  of  King 
Arthur  in  the  feudal  period  of  boyhood,  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  these  clubs  respectively 
appeal  to  the  interests  and  the  stage  of  will- 
development  and  grade  of  culture  appro- 
priate to  each  of  the  periods  mentioned. 
These  clubs  are  pedagogically  correct  for 
their  respective  boy  epochs,  simply  because 
they  help  the  boys  "to  seize,  at  the  height  of 
their  susceptibility,  those  interests,  impulses, 
instincts   and  mental   capacities   which  have 


208  BOY  LIFE 

found  expression  in  the  race  at  the  different 
culture-epochs,"  as  Dr.  Van  Liew  suggests. 
In  deahng  with  the  three  periods  of  ado- 
lescence, where  our  problem  is  most  impor- 
tant, the  general  trend  of  policy  is  quite 
evident. 

(1)  The  young  men  in  the  cooperative 
period  may  safely  be  given  full  rights  of 
citizenship  and  loaded  with  responsibility. 

(2)  Tlie  older  boys  in  the  self-assertive 
period  should  be  regarded  as  presumptive 
citizens,  and  be  trusted  with  citizenship  on 
their  honor,  with  the  understanding  that 
these  rights  may  be  forfeited  for  cause. 

(3)  Boys  in  the  early  adolescent  period 
should  be  granted  only  partial  citizenship ; 
becoming  voters  only  after  winning  the  privi- 
lege by  proving  their  fitness  to  be  classed  as 
trusties. 

That  is,  from  the  point  of  view  of  progress 
in  will  achievement,  after  a  boy  has  gained  a 
fair  degree  of  self-control,  he  is  ready  for  a 
measure  of  self-government ;  but  until  he  has 
developed  leadership  he  is  not  equipped  for 
full  self-government,  with  its  demand  for  the 
self-direction  of  social  groups.  Having 
gained  self-control,  he  needs  enough  scope  in 
self-government    to    apply    himself    to    the 


SELF-GOVERNMENT  209 

gaining  of  comradeship  through  teamwork; 
and  thus  make  progress  enough  in  the  art 
of  social  adjustment  to  qualify  as  a  law- 
abiding  citizen,  and  through  the  discipline 
of  obedience  to  find  in  personal  loyalty  the 
spirit  of  wiUingness  to  serve.  Having 
gained  this  loyalty,  which  is  the  finest 
product  of  the  monarchy,  he  must  be  given 
more  range  for  initiative  in  increasing  self- 
government,  in  order  to  develop  his  self- 
reliance  which,  in  turn,  is  the  basis  of  leader- 
ship. Thus  would  I  explain  the  rationale  of 
graded  self-government. 

The  position  is  here  assumed  (which  is  the 
right  theory  of  the  civil  franchise  even  in  a 
republic)  that  the  voting  power  is  not  an 
inherent  right  of  citizenship,  but  a  responsi- 
bility which  should  be  withheld  from  the 
unfit.  This  responsibility  should  be  forfeited 
by  every  convicted  criminal,  until  won  back 
by  subsequent  faithfulness  to  law  and  order. 
Such  an  interpretation  of  the  franchise  would 
vastly  raise  its  value  in  the  e3'es  of  men. 
More  men  would  vote  if  the  ballot  were  worth 
more  and  the  ballot  rights  weighed  more. 

Likewise,  we  may  believe  citizenship  in  the 
boys'  republic  will  be  more  wisely  appreciated 
and  used  if,  particularly  in  early  adolescence, 


210  BOY  LIFE 

it  be  regarded  as  a  distinction  to  be  won; 
and  in  middle  adolescence  a  probationary 
right  which  must  be  honored.  This  theory 
safeguards  the  boy  ballot  and  makes  it  trust- 
worthy. Otherwise,  if  you  extend  universal 
suffrage  to  small  boys  you  have  to  hedge 
your  plan  and  protect  your  property  by 
limiting  the  range  to  which  the  boy  juris- 
diction may  extend.  This  is  hitching  a 
string  to  your  gift;  pretending  to  give  self 
government  but  retaining  its  substance. 
Properly  safeguard  the  franchise  in  the  dif- 
ferent boyhood  periods  and  your  govern- 
ment is  safe.  Anyway,  full  self-government 
by  children  cannot  be  much  more  than  a 
game,  for  there  is  no  adequate  sense  of  re- 
sponsibility and  ought  not  to  be.  If  it 
assumes  reality  it  degenerates  into  a  farce — 
except  when  a  strong  personality  dominates 
the  situation.  The  reality  begins  with  the 
chivalry  period,  and  even  then  it  must  be  well 
safeguarded.  The  varying  status  of  the 
adult  leader  in  this  graded  self-government 
will  be  considered  in  the  next  chapter.  The 
adult  leader's  prominence  will  of  coui'se 
retreat  as  the  boy  advances  in  self-govern- 
ment. 

It    would   be   entirely    possible    to    give   a 


SELF-GOVERNMENT  211 

fractional  voting  privilege  to  the  boys  in  the 
feudal  period,  giving  a  single  vote  to  a  group 
of  five,  for  instance,  or  letting  the  chosen 
leader  of  each  group  of  small  boys  be  allowed 
to  cast  a  representative  vote  for  his  group 
until,  in  the  leadership  of  these  small  groups, 
a  boy  proves  his  fitness  to  become  a  "trusty," 
and  earns  the  personal  responsibility  of  the 
ballot.  This  word  "trusty"  should  be  used 
with  caution,  especially  if  a  state's  prison  or 
jail  is  near  and  the  boys  happen  to  be 
familiar  with  its  technical  usage.  It  is  a 
good  useful  term,  however,  and  should  be 
redeemed  from  its  penitentiary  associations. 

Bear  in  mind,  please,  that  we  are  here 
discussing  the  proposition  of  real  self- 
government  by  boys.  We  are  not  referring 
to  mere  parliamentary  practice  in  a  govern- 
ment game,  but  to  sharing  the  actual  man- 
agement of  the  club  or  the  Association. 
Where  nothing  is  at  stake  it  is,  of  course, 
perfectly  safe  to  let  the  smallest  boy  vote, 
except  that  you  thus  multiply  the  danger  of 
civic  corruption  in  your  boy  republic. 

I  presume  the  question  might  naturally  be 
raised,  would  not  consistency  with  our  theory 
compel  us  to  reproduce  in  early  adolescence 
the  forms  of  feudalism  in  our  boys'  organiza- 


212  BOY  LIFE 

tions ;  and  in  middle  adolescence  the  forms  of 
the  limited  monarchy  with  its  parliament? 
Having  advocated  this  in  connection  with  the 
3'ounger  periods,  why  not  here? 

There  is  a  reason  for  this  which  is  readily 
seen.  It  is  a  primary  principle  in  recapitu- 
lation that  the  earlier  periods  of  parallelism 
are  more  distinct  than  the  later ;  which  is  but 
another  way  of  saying,  that  as  the  individual 
grows  older  he  responds  more  to  his  environ- 
ment and  to  his  own  will  and  less  to  his 
instincts.  Boys  in  the  self-assertive  period 
manifest  strongly  the  spirit  of  the  revolu- 
tionary epoch  which  developed  the  constitu- 
tional monarchy  but,  in  this  country  at  least, 
their  democratic  environment  so  strongly 
influences  them  that  they  become  essentially 
men  of  today,  and  they  would  doubtless  rebel 
against  the  forms  of  the  monarchy  in  their 
clubs  or  fraternity  life.  The  important 
point  to  notice  is  simply  this:  the  essence  of 
the  constitutional  monarchy,  not  its  form, 
must  be  regarded  in  our  organization  of  these 
older  boys ;  that  is,  a  reasonable  amount  of 
adult  guidance,  as  represented  by  the  veto 
power,  and  by  the  provisional  franchise,  held 
as  a  probationary  right,  is  perfectly  normal 
to  this  period  of  boy  life. 


SELF-GOVERNMENT  213 

There  is  very  much  to  commend  In  such 
plans  for  self-government  as  the  "George 
Junior  Republic"  and  the  numerous  boys' 
republics  that  have  imitated  it ;  also  in 
Harvey  L.  Smith's  "Tuxis  City,"  in  the 
Bedford  Branch  of  the  Brooklyn  Association ; 
and  John  L.  Alexander's  "U.  &  I."  clubs  in 
the  Philadelphia  Central  Association,  a 
simpler  but  novel  scheme  of  intermeshing 
clubs  for  different  ages.  Varieties  of  these 
plans  are  quite  popular  in  many  quarters 
and  are  meeting  with  varying  success. 
Sometimes  their  success  is  rather  surprising 
and  can  hardly  be  explained  except  by  the 
leader's  power.  Again  gradual  failure 
appears,  because  too  much  or  too  little  self- 
government  has  been  granted  at  different 
periods,  and  disintegration  begins.  The 
danger  of  granting  the  voting  privilege  to 
boys  under  twelve  is  enhanced  sometimes  by 
the  complexity  of  the  scheme.  There  Is  too 
much  routine  for  such  small  boys  and,  unless 
buoyed  up  and  carried  along  by  the  interest 
of  the  older  boys,  they  lack  the  necessary 
sustained  interest  really  to  enjoy  the  plan 
and  make  it  succeed.  So  the  machinery  is 
soon  running  perfunctorily  and  creaking 
sadly. 


214  BOY  LIFE 

Experience  with  younger  boys  suggests 
that  they  do  not  naturally  take  to  elaborate 
machinery  in  organization  or  give  much  time 
to  such  details.  Their  own  gangs  are  very 
simply  organized.  The  civic  ingenuity  of 
youngsters  is  not  extensive.  They  soon  run 
out  of  ideas  for  even  the  bare  bones  of  parlia- 
mentary practice,  and  it  becomes  puerile  and 
petty.  This  criticism  of  premature  self- 
government  would  gradually  lose  its  force, 
however,  for  the  longer  such  work  is  practiced 
by  the  boys  of  a  city  or  village,  the  earlier 
their  initiative  and  trustworthiness  will 
develop ;  so  that  after  a  few  years  the 
capacity  for  citizenship  in  boy  life  would 
doubtless  mature  very  early. 

Among  the  good  results  of  the  best  of 
these  plans  the  following  may  be  mentioned: 
It  treats  the  growing  boys  frankly  as  they 
deserve,  giving  them  an  actual  share  of  real 
influence  commensurate  with  their  manliness 
and  capacity  for  initiative.  It  gives  them 
actual  political  practice  with  their  peers, 
which  develops  and  tests  their  power  of 
leadership.  It  throws  them  on  their  own 
resources  and  develops  self-reliance.  It 
makes  them  often  remarkably  intelligent 
regarding  the  civic  life  of  their  community  as 


SELF-GO  VERNMENT  2 1 5 

well  as  its  mere  political  machinery.  The 
danger  of  developing  unscrupulous  politi- 
cians may  be  largely  neutralized  by  a  frankly 
Christian  atmosphere,  the  highest  ideals,  and 
a  brotherly  adult  leadership  or  comradeship 
of  the  right  kind.  Thus  it  doubtless  tends  to 
cherish  high  political  ideals  and  essential 
patriotism.  It  certainly  develops  patriotism 
of  the  practical  sort  which  applies  itself 
directly  to  the  improvement  of  local  condi- 
tions. The  practice  in  judging  questions  of 
honesty,  fair  play,  practical  morality, 
personal  and  property  rights,  surely  develops 
not  only  the  capacity  for  judgment  between 
right  and  wrong,  but  also  the  habits  of  right 
living.  The  sobering  influence  of  responsi- 
bility naturally  fosters  true  manliness  and 
reduces  cases  of  petty  discipline  to  the 
minimum.  The  fact  that  the  boys  themselves 
are  the  government  takes  away  all  the 
attractiveness  of  lawlessness  and  makes  it 
unpopular. 

Notice  how  the  whole  problem  of  discipline 
and  order  settles  itself  here  in  all  genuine 
self-government  plans  that  are  wisely  safe- 
guarded. Punishment  must  be  moral,  or  it 
is  demoralizing.  Unreasonable  or  misunder- 
stood discipline  is  simply  brutalizing.      The 


216  BOY  LIFE 

essence  of  punishment  is  not  mere  physical 
pain.  The  only  effective  punishment  is 
ostracism  by  one's  fellows ;  or,  as  Professor 
Scott  sa^'s,  "the  disapproval  and  repression 
of  the  group  one  feels  he  belongs  to. 
Nothing  else  is  punishment."  Any  other 
punishment  may  be  turned  into  the  glory  of 
martyrdom ;  this  cannot.  Real  social  loss 
is  loss  of  caste  with  one's  cherished  comrades. 

This  is  why  boss  discipline  of  boys  so  often 
gives  the  keenest  delight  to  the  boy  who  is 
singled  out  for  punishment.  He  is  glad  of 
the  cliance  to  pose  before  his  fellows  as  a 
martyr.  Likewise  smartness  in  evading  the 
law  and  outwitting  justice  is  considered  by 
the  gang  the  hall-mark  of  skilful  leadership. 
This  unworthy  ambition  may  even  develop 
into  a  mania,  and  is  the  essence  of  all  hood- 
lumism.  Inoculation  of  the  gang  with  a 
measure  of  responsibiHty  for  law  and  order, 
prevents  the  smallpox  of  hoodlumism ;  nay, 
it  cures  it,  and  it  is  the  only  remedy  that  will. 
Self-government,  rightly  safeguarded  and 
applied  with  pedagogical  discrimination, 
logically  settles  the  whole  problem  of  disci- 
pline. Without  discrimination,  however,  it 
breeds  both  anarchy  and  hoodlumism. 

The    city    plan    or    village    plan    for    the 


SELF-GOVERNMENT  217 

normal  boy  community  in  town  or  village  is 
preferable  to  the  Boy  Republic  plan,  which 
takes  the  state  or  nation  as  the  unit.  The 
latter  perhaps  is  more  spectacular,  and  with 
higher  sounding  titles ;  but  it  is  less  practical 
and  more  like  a  mere  game  of  politics.  It  is 
apt  to  be  mere  gymnastics ;  it  hoes  no  corn. 
Local  self-government  is  the  root  of  the 
matter;  and  the  boys  should  begin  right  at 
home,  taking  as  their  model  the  actual  work- 
ing plan  of  their  own  community,  whether 
it  be  the  complex  borough  government  of 
Greater  New  York,  the  commission  plan  of 
Des  INIoines,  the  federal  plan  of  the  ordinary 
city  or  the  town  meeting  of  the  New  England 
village.  More  than  half  the  value  of  the 
plan  is  its  real  connection  with  local  condi- 
tions, and  the  chance  it  gives  the  boys  for 
actual  training  for  future  citizenship  in 
their  own  community.  What  a  wonderful 
thing  it  will  be  when  the  boys  of  our  Associa- 
tions and  churches,  the  country  over,  are  thus 
trained,  each  in  his  own  town  and  village,  so 
that  as  soon  as  they  are  old  enough  to  cast 
their  first  royal  ballot,  they  will  do  so  intelli- 
gently, and  will  immediately  add  real  civic 
strength  and  political  capacity  to  the  man- 
hood of  their  city !     Yer}^  soon  this  will  come 


218  BOY  LIFE 

to  pass,  and  these  thousands  of  boys  will  wield 
a  tremendous  influence  for  the  purifying  of 
our  city  politics  and  raising  the  standard  for 
public  office.  Do  j^ou  catch  the  vision?  It 
is  a  great  opportunity  which  pastors  and 
secretaries  for  bo3's  have  within  their  reach: 
the  automatic  training  of  manly,  Christian 
citizens,  through  progressive  self-government 
work  with  boys. 

Let  us  remember,  however,  what  was  sug- 
gested in  Chapter  II.,  in  mild  criticism  of 
self-government  schemes.  Mere  practice  in 
politics  does  not  make  citizens.  We  must  not 
focus  our  attention  too  narrowly  on  mere 
functions  of  government ;  we  do  not  live  to 
be  governed,  not  even  to  be  self-governed. 
The  training  for  broadly  efficient  manliness 
must  include  other  activities  than  the  merely 
political — the  whole  broad  range  of  social 
interests  in  the  life  of  men,  all  of  which  deal 
directly  with  will  development  and  character 
building.  As  Dr.  Scott  well  says,  "Real 
initiative  is  developed  not  so  much  by  self- 
government  as  by  suitable  opportunity  for 
real  leadership  and  organization  in  regular 
work."  Let  the  self-government  plan  be 
tactfully  utilized,  but  let  it  also  embrace 
every  manner  of  worth  while  activity  which 


SELF-GOVERNMENT  219 

the  symmetrical  development  of  the  boys  may 
need,  until  the  stature  of  perfect  manliness  is 
happily  attained,  and  our  boy  has  become  a 
man.^ 


1  The  problem  of  self-government  for  boys  in  middle  adoles- 
cence and  especially  for  young  men  in  later  adolescence  includes 
of  course  the  question  of  college  discipline  and  administration. 

For  a  more  adequate  treatment  of  this  special  phase  of  our 
subject  the  reader  is  referred  to  an  address  by  Professor  Fiskeat 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  March  8,  1910,  on  "Student  Cooperation  in  Col- 
lege Government."  See  the  annual  volume  of  Minutes  of  the 
Religious  Education  Association,  for  1910. 


CHAPTER  XII 

SOME  BY-LAWS  OF  BOY   LEADERSHIP 

Having  outlined  briefly  in  the  last  chapter 
the  principles  involved  in  a  graded  system  of 
self-government  among  boys,  the  question  is 
now  in  order,  What  should  be  the  place  of  the 
adult  leader  in  boys'  organizations?  This 
question  often  involves  a  delicate  matter  of 
adjustment  upon  which  may  depend  a  man's 
success  or  failure  with  his  boys.  It  is 
certainly  worth  careful  consideration. 

In  general,  the  adult  should  guide  from 
the  rear.  His  influence  may  be  potent,  some- 
times masterful,  but  it  should  usually  be 
unobtrusive.  His  rightful  authority  is  in 
inverse  proportion  to  the  boys'  age  and  ad- 
vancement. In  any  scheme  for  progressive 
self-government,  the  adult  leader's  responsi- 
bility will  progressively  recede  in  the  different 
periods  of  boyhood.  In  small  boys'  clubs, 
the  adult  should  be  Director,  practically 
Dictator  at  first ;  in  early  adolescence,  he 
should  be  Supervisor,  with  large  discretionary 
powers ;  in  middle  adolescence  Adviser,  with 
great  opportunity  for  suggestive  guidance, 


222  BOY  LIFE 

but  no  overt  authority  except  in  a  crisis; 
in  late  adolescence  simply  the  position  of  a 
Comrade,  frankly  on  an  equality  with  the 
young  men,  receiving  only  such  deference  as 
his  superior  experience  and  personality  may 
naturally  command.  From  Director,  Super- 
visor, Adviser  to  Comrade,  the  adult  leader 
thus  recedes  to  the  rear  in  the  four  periods  of 
boyhood  and  youth.  These  names  indicate 
with  sufficient  clearness  the  degree  of 
authority  which  the  adult  officer  can  reason- 
ably or  safely  exercise  in  each  period. 

A  more  important  function  than  mere 
discipline  is  the  adult's  opportunity  to  stimu- 
late originality,  to  develop  ingenuity.  This 
too  will  be  decreasingly  necessary  in  the  dif- 
ferent periods.  In  the  boyhood  period  the 
task  will  test  all  a  man's  resources  to  furnish 
brains  for  the  youngsters  and  suggest  new 
games  and  ingenious  schemes  to  develop 
interest,  when  the  boys,  conscious  of  their 
own  meager  ingenuity,  constantly  ask: 
"What  can  we  do  now.^"'  In  the  next  period 
the  supervisor's  burden  will  be  considerably 
lighter,  but  will  be  similar.  The  breadth  of 
the  boys'  interests  and  consequent  outlook 
upon  life  will  depend  on  the  supervisor's  own 
fertility  of  resource  and  his  skill  in  suggesting 


SOME  BY-LAWS  223 

indirectly,  thus  leading  his  boys  to  discover 
ingenuity  for  themselves. 

The  adviser's  task  in  the  middle  youth 
period  will  be  still  less  in  evidence.  The  boys' 
own  leaders  doubtless  now  will  suggest  twice 
as  many  wild  schemes  as  could  possibly  be 
executed.  The  adviser  will  have  to  teach 
discrimination  and  judgment,  and  offer  plans 
of  his  own  for  comparison  and  criticism, 
always  leaving  the  final  decision  with  the  boys 
themselves.  The  adult  comrade  in  the  young 
men's  club  should  frankly  be  "one  of  the 
boys,"  and  hold  no  official  station  except  such 
as  they  intrust  to  him.  His  opportunity  is 
particularly  to  tone  up  the  boys'  social  tastes 
and  broaden  their  social  interests.  They  will 
frankly  appreciate  his  contribution  to  the 
common  stock  of  inventiveness,  but  will  not 
depend  upon  it.  The  comradeship,  however, 
with  a  keen  fraternity  of  young  men  will  tax 
the  man's  resources  to  the  utmost  and  spur 
him  on  to  do  his  best  for  the  boys'  sake. 

The  adult  adviser  will  develop  the  best 
results  in  his  boys  if  he  follows  consistently 
the  pedagogical  order  in  will  achievement. 
Self-control,  comradeship,  the  personal 
loyalty  which  inspires  obedience;  self-reliance 
and  leadership,  in  each  successive  epoch  of 


224  BOY  LIFE 

boy  life  must  be  stimulated  under  adult 
guidance  and  brought  to  full  flowering  and 
fruitage.  Caution  is  needed  here,  however, 
more  than  in  any  other  branch  of  our  study, 
to  detect  and  treat  cases  of  belated  develop- 
ment. We  are  too  well  aware  that  a  large 
proportion  of  boys  fail  to  develop  these 
degrees  in  will  power  at  the  period  indicated. 
Handicap  in  health,  in  heredit}^,  in  home  con- 
ditions will  make  a  vast  difference,  and  racial 
and  other  social  characteristics  also.  With 
this  warning,  then,  not  to  expect  anything 
like  uniformity  at  the  different  periods,  let  us 
consider  the  general  trend  of  our  task  of  help- 
ing the  boy  to  develop  his  initiative. 

1.  Guiding  the  hoy  to  self-control.  The 
normal  boy  will  begin  this  fight  early  and  get 
a  good  start  before  he  reaches  the  Association 
or  the  boys'  club.  Lack  of  control  is  due  to 
one  of  two  causes,  too  strong  impulses  or  too 
weak  inhibitions.  One  needs  toning  down ; 
the  other  toning  up.  The  latter  is  anaemic, 
he  needs  help,  stimulus,  encouragement,  and 
what  Scott  calls  "a  course  in  temptation !  "  ^ 
A  gradual  testing  of  his  capacity  for  resist- 
ance, his  mental  persistence,  his  strength  of 
purpose,  by  carefully  graded  tests  or  tempta- 

1  "Social  Education,"  p.  140. 


SOME  BY-LAWS  225 

tions  if  3"ou  please,  fitted  to  his  moral  calibre 
and  strength,  just  as  you  prescribe  gymna- 
sium work  to  build  up  the  muscles,  will  give 
the  boy  the  chance  to  win  his  personal 
victories  and  learn  the  joy  of  it.  Gradually 
he  will  grow  in  the  power  of  self-control. 

The  impulsive  boy  must  get  his  hard  knocks 
until  he  is  able  to  reason  backward  from  result 
to  cause  and  make  up  liis  mind  that  it  is 
foolish  to  yield  to  his  passions.  The  abnor- 
mal boy  whose  self-control  is  destroyed  by  the 
cigaret  habit  needs  special  treatment.  He 
will  need  at  first  the  suggestive  help  of  your 
stronger  will,  until  by  a  reasonable  auto- 
suggestion he  can  stiffen  up  his  own  will 
against  the  habit.  Mr.  T.  S.  Knowlson  in  a 
recent  book^  gives  Dr.  Quackenbos's  prescrip- 
tion for  this  interesting  and  important  sort 
of  mental  cure.  It  is  worth  studying  and 
adopting  in  abnormal  cases. 

2.  Directing  the  boy's  comradeship.  It 
is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  self-control  is 
not  a  finished  product  in  childhood!  Neither 
is  comradeship  complete  in  early  boyhood. 
In  using  these  terms  to  characterize  the  will 
development  in  the  two  early  periods,  the 
writer  is  simply  indicating  the  epoch  of  boy 

1  "The  Education  of  the  Will,"  p.  198. 


226  BOY  LIFE 

life  when  the  will  activity  focuses  on  these 
achievements.  Self-control,  beginning  early, 
underlies  the  moral  struggle  of  an  entire  life. 
Comradeship,  functioning  first  with  the  rise 
of  the  social  instinct  in  boyhood,  normally 
continues  to  grow  in  scope  and  power,  as  the 
social  radius  lengthens.  But  its  attainment 
is  the  special  task  of  this  second  period,  and 
it  is  the  natural  product  of  team  work  in 
social  endeavor.  It  is  exercised  and 
strengthened  in  every  manner  of  game 
requiring  team  play,  as  well  as  in  the  boy's 
ordinary  friendships. 

This  principle  is  so  thoroughly  understood* 
I  need  not  develop  it.  The  literature  on 
games  and  the  value  of  play  for  the  growing 
boy  is  increasing.  I  wish,  however,  to  call 
attention  to  the  interesting  variety  of  prac-; 
tical  plans  which  Dr.  Scott  suggests,  to  serve 
the  same  purpose  as  the  team  play  in  games, 
with  the  added  advantage  of  being  construc- 
tive, with  definite  results  in  something  made; 
e.g.  in  group  work  in  manual  training,  etc.^ 

3.  Arousing  the  hoy^s  personal  loyalty. 
The  supervisor  in  the  boys'  club  of  this  third 
period  has  a  delicate  but  important  task.     In 


1  "Social  Ediif-ation,"  Chapters  (J  and  7. 


SOME  BY-LAWS  227 

the  whole  process  of  developing  a  boy's  will, 
personal  loyalty  is  the  most  subtle  achieve- 
ment, and  the  least  susceptible  to  rule  or 
analysis. 

To  be  sure,  obedience  is  developed  by  the 
soldier's  discipline.  This  we  may  secure  by 
the  routine  of  the  Boy's  Brigade  and  similar 
plans ;  but  even  making  obedience  instinctive, 
through  habit  gained  by  drill,  secures  for  our 
boy  only  the  husk  of  obedience,  the  mere  ex- 
ternal form.  The  heart  of  it,  the  spirit  of  it, 
is  that  which  alone  makes  willing  obedience, 
i.e.  the  spirit  of  personal  loyalty.  This  is  a 
matter  of  sheer  personality.  Personality 
cannot  be  taught.     It  grows  by  contagion. 

I  feel  sure  that  boy  workers  must  depend 
most  of  all  at  this  stage  upon  the  Christ 
power  in  helping  the  boy.  Only  the  Christ- 
inspired  personality  can  kindle  that  finest 
personal  loyalty  in  the  boy  which  makes 
him  knightly,  law-abiding  and  increasingly 
manly.  If  at  this  period  the  boy  can  be 
guided,  as  the  majority  are  not,  to  focus 
this  new-born  hero  worship  in  Jesus  Christ, 
the  finest  fruitage  of  this  early  adolescent 
period  will  be  developed;  and  the  sting  and 
much  of  the  struggle  of  tlie  following  period, 
the  self-assertive,  will  be  prevented. 


228  BOY  LIFE 

4.  Challenging  the  boT/'s  self-reliance. 
Most  boys,  however,  do  not  find  their  way 
to  this  early  Christian  experience.  So  the 
middle  teens  is  often  a  period  of  great 
struggle,  before  conversion  comes  at  perhaps 
seventeen.  But  the  very  struggle  of  this 
storm  and  stress  period  is  often  needed  to 
develop  a  healthy  self-reliance. 

This  is  the  time  when  the  boy,  particularly 
the  choleric  energetic  boy,  needs  hard  stunts. 
He  needs  repeatedly  to  be  "put  up  against  it," 
as  he  would  style  it,  in  order  to  discover  to 
himself  all  his  resources.  Certainl}'^  if  he  is 
timid,  he  must  be  taught  that  every  bogy 
halves  its  horrors  when  you  know  the  worst; 
and  that  often  the  mountains  in  the  distance 
may  be  molehills  when  you  reach  them.  The 
joy  of  conquest  is  never  so  keen  or  so  neces- 
sary as  now,  when  self-reliance  is  being  won 
in  this  struggle  of  early  youth. 

To  be  sure,  he  needs  this  all  along  the  way, 
and  his  self-reliance  will  grow  far  more 
normally  now,  if  it  has  been  gaining  con- 
tinuously since  early  boyhood.  The  tests  and 
stunts  so  thoroughly  planned  in  Mr.  Smith's 
Tuxis  scheme  for  character  building  are  well 
adapted  to  this  period  and  have  challenged 
scores  of  boys  to  a  finer,  more  courageous 


SOME  BY-LAWS  229 

self-reliance.  Mr.  Seton's  interesting  policy 
of  the  coup  in  connection  with  the  Woodcraft 
Indians  is  also  exactly  in  line  with  our 
purpose.  The  principle  is  briefly  this :  In 
early  and  particularly  in  middle  adolescence, 
self-reliance  must  be  developed  by  stumping 
the  boy  to  dare  the  difficult,  to  storm  fort- 
resses and  discover  his  own  powers  of  initia- 
tive, of  ingenuity,  of  skill  and  of  achievement. 
Here  comes  the  redemption  of  the  fighting 
instinct.  The  value  of  all  this  is  enhanced 
when  the  boy's  own  incipient  leadership  leads 
the  way  in  these  j^outhful  victories.  Never, 
however,  must  the  element  of  unreality  spoil 
the  morale  of  these  youthful  struggles  and 
make  them  stagy  and  superficial.  Even  the 
boy's  play  now  must  not  be  aimless ;  it  must 
be  purposeful,  with  a  very  definite  goal  in 
view.  He  has  learned  the  wholesome  lesson 
of  the  earnestness  of  life. 

5.  Coaching  the  hoy's  leadership.  This 
finest  product  of  the  developed  will  is  a 
matter  of  slow  growth  by  practice,  along  the 
lines  of  discovered  ability,  in  the  field  of  the 
boy's  specialty.  Yet  it  should  not  and  must 
not  be  limited  to  the  elect  few,  for  every  boy 
may  have  his  specialty,  and  deserves  his 
chance  at  leadership.      But  he  needs  a  coach. 


230  BOY  LIFE 

and  this  is  the  great  function  of  his  adult 
comrade  in  the  fraternal  circle  of  his  club. 

Few  boys  in  any  normal  group  but  can 
excel  at  sometliing.  Find  out  what  this  is,  in 
every  case.  Let  this  specialty  be  developed 
by  each  boy  and  be  rewarded  by  the  recogni- 
tion it  deserves.  Tliis  is  one  of  the  valuable 
services  which  select  private  schools  under  fine 
management  can  render.  The  coaching  of 
future  leaders  is  thoroughly  and  effectively 
done  at  Dr.  Reddie's  interesting  school  at 
Abbotsholme,  England,  and  the  plan  is  full 
of  suggestivcness  for  the  treatment  of  older 
boys.  Special  talent  is  speedily  recognized. 
For  instance,  remarkable  skill  in  swimming 
secures  for  the  boy  the  honor  of  Captain,  or 
Vice-Captain  of  Swimming;  thus  honoring 
unusual  ability  and  developing  leadership  by 
responsibility.  More  specific  attention  to 
this  matter  in  the  later  teens  will  enable  many 
good  followers  to  become  leaders  and  enjoy 
the  exhilaration  and  zest  of  leadership,  as 
well  as  the  gain  in  efficiency  which  surely 
results. 

We  have  thus  indicated  briefly  the  general 
trend  which  adult  workers  with  boys  will 
naturally  follow,  to  lead  the  boys  along  the 
road  to  manliness  with  self-developed  initia- 


SOME  BY-LAWS  231 

tive  and  self-reliant  leadership.  Let  us  now 
bring  together  a  few  condensed  suggestions, 
which  at  this  stage  of  our  discussion  will  be 
sufficiently  clear  without  much  comment. 

Some  By-laws  of  Boy  Leadership. 

1.  The  law  of  Personal  Influence:  Strong 
personality  may  negative  all  rules  and  over- 
ride all  obstacles  in  boys'  work,  compelling 
success  by  personal  attractiveness. 

2.  The  law  of  Experience:  Leadership 
must  be  developed  by  practice,  since  expe- 
rience is  the  truest  teacher. 

3.  The  law  of  Independence:  True  or- 
ganization being  self-organization,  boys 
must  be  encouraged  to  organize  into  groups 
for  useful  purposes,  social  service  and  study, 
in  Avhich  they  may  follow  out  their  own  ideas 
and  make  them  constructive. 

•i.  The  law  of  Interest:  Self-direction 
will  be  most  certainly  aroused  along  the  line 
of  the  boy's  spontaneous  interests  or  devel- 
oped interests.  Probably  here  only  is  lead- 
ership either  safe  or  efficient. 

5.  The  law  of  Latent  Personality:  Self- 
expression  is  necessary  at  all  hazards,  to 
project    the    bo^^'s    personality    into    mutual 


232  BOY  LIFE 

and  worth  while  life,  and  develop  his  latent 
capacity. 

6.  The  law  of  Social  Environment:  To 
stimulate  a  boy's  initiative  intelligently,  you 
must  be  able  to  bound  the  boy's  social  con- 
tacts, know  how  the  world  touches  him  at 
every  point,  and  how  his  interests  react  most 
naturally. 

7.  The  law  of  Free  Play:  To  develop 
leadership,  a  boy  must  be  given  the  chance 
to  direct  his  fellows  and  mold  their  opinions 
by  persuasion ;  thus  submitting  his  leader- 
ship to  their  free  criticism. 

8.  The  law  of  The  Hazard :  Real  leader- 
ship is  developed  only  where  there  is  some- 
thing at  stake.  It  is  child's  play  unless 
both  success  and  failure  are  possibilities.  A 
"sure  thing"  is  no  incentive  to  leadership. 

9.  ThaXaiW  oiTlie  Trusty:  Being  trusted 
by  a  superior  is  a  powerful  social  appeal. 
Thus  a  leadership  experiment  is  likely  to 
draw  out  all  the  boy's  latent  initiative  and 
discover  unexpected  powers. 

10.  The  law  of  Silent  Suggestion:  A 
boy  who  respects  your  opinion  will  strive  to 
be  what  he  thinks  you  think  he  is.  Manli- 
ness is  thus  grown  wonderfully  by  silent 
suggestion. 


SOME  BY-LAWS  233 

11.  The  law  of  the  Leverage:  The  lever- 
age on  every  epoch  of  boy  life  is  the  period 
next  older.  Therefore  boys  adopt  their 
ideals  and  often  their  leaders  from  the  next 
older  group. 

12.  The  law  of  the  Social  Radius:  Nor- 
mally the  boy's  social  radius,  and  therefore 
his  social  capacity,  increases  as  he  grows 
older.  The  size  of  successful  boys'  clubs 
will  depend  upon  the  boys'  social  radius. 

13.  The  law  of  Boy  Ideals:  A  natural 
leader  dominates  his  group  in  proportion  as 
he  incarnates  personally  the  ideals  of  the 
group. 

14.  The  law  of  the  Precocious  Leader: 
The  boy  leader  gains  leverage  to  move  the 
gang  by  virtue  of  his  precocious  develop- 
ment in  the  will  achievement  of  the  respective 
periods.  He  is  prematurely  self-controlled, 
self-reliant  or  resourceful. 

15.  The  law  of  Intuitive  Leadership: 
Often  boy  leaders  are  intuitively  resourceful 
and  ingenious,  as  the  younger  boys  are  not 
apt  to  be.  Therefore  they  readily  usurp  the 
natural  place  of  the  adult  adviser.  They 
may  become  his  arch  adversary  or  his  effi- 
cient ally. 


2S4>  BOY  LIFE 

16.  The  law  of  the  Social  Barometer: 
Most  boys  do  their  best  in  an  atmosphere 
of  hope;  but  many  thrive  b}"-  conflict  and 
opposition,  and  need  the  incentive  of  neces- 
sity to  develop  their  utmost.  Some  make 
progress  by  encouragement ;  others  are 
spoiled  by  it,  and  need  the  bitter  experience 
of  failure.  The  normal  boy  learns  much 
from  both  defeat  and  \'ictory. 

17.  The  law  of  Ingenuity:  A  boy's  in- 
genuity is  best  stimulated  by  putting  him  in 
new  situations  which  require  him  to  make 
new  brain  paths  and  invent  the  way  to  suc- 
cess.    Necessity  is  the  mother  of  invention. 

18.  The  law  of  Dependence  and  Free- 
dom: The  power  of  self-direction  is  best 
learned  under  the  kindly  eye  of  a  superior. 
The  power  to  create  plans  and  direct  others 
must  be  developed  independently. 

19.  The  law  of  ''Sink  or  Szvim" :  Self- 
reliance  is  best  cultivated  by  forcing  a  boy 
to  trust  his  own  resources  and  to  "find  him- 
self." This  indicates  that  paternalistic 
clubs  for  boys  in  their  teens  discourage 
leadership  and  delay  real  manliness. 

20.  The  law  of  Equal  Chance:  Opportu- 
nity for  boy  leadership  must  not  be  limited 
to  the  most  fit.      Practice  must  be  given  even 


SOME  BY-LAWS  235 

to  inferior  initiative,  that  it  may  profit  by 
experience.  Great  leaders  have  been  devel- 
oped in  the  school  of  defeat. 

21.  The  law  of  Contagion:  Boy  leader- 
sliip  is  a  mighty  incentive  to  the  rank  and 
file;  stimulating  imitation,  encouraging  am- 
bition and  arousing  effort ;  thus  multiplying 
leadership  by  contagion. 

22.  The  law  of  Altruism:  Leadership 
among  boys  must  not  be  regarded  selfishly, 
but  as  the  highest  form  of  social  service. 
Disinterested  leadership  is  the  finest  tj'pe. 

23.  The  law  Against  Bait:  Don't  troll 
for  boys  with  a  baited  hook.  Trust  the 
altruistic  appeal.  Flash  on  them  instead  a 
suit  of  knightly  armor.  They  are  keen  for 
a  chance  to  help  some  other  fellow. 

24.  The  law  of  the  Shingle:  Shingle 
your  boys  of  diff^erent  ages  with  overlaps 
ping  responsibilities.  Anticipate  the  "Big- 
Brother  Movement"  by  loading  the  older 
boys  with  the  care  of  those  next  younger, 
both  by  individuals  and  by  groups.  Have 
every  boy  interested  in  some  younger  boy 
and  responsible  for  him.  It  saves  boys ; 
and  it  makes  men. 

25.  The  law  of  Approbation:  Boys 
covet  the  approval  of  a  leader  they  admire. 


236  BOY  LIFE 

Merited  praise  for  appreciated  effort  en- 
courages them  to  attempt  more  difficult 
tasks. 

26.  The  law  of  Emergencies:  Self- 
government  practice  may  be  purely  artificial ; 
but  real  initiative  is  developed  when  the  boy 
has  a  chance  to  organize  and  lead  liis  peers 
in  regular  worth  while  work.  It  is  such 
practice  that  trains  the  boy  for  future 
emergencies. 

27.  The  law  for  Redeeming  the  Gang: 
Raise  the  key  boys'  ideals  of  manliness.  If 
this  proves  impossible,  then  help  the  gang  to 
escape  the  tyranny  of  an  unworthy  leader 
by  outgrowing  their  own  low  ideals  which  he 
personifies.  The  sentiment  of  the  gang  must 
be  toned  up,  in  order  to  get  the  whip-hand 
of  real  discipline.  A  nobler  ideal  of  manli- 
ness, gained  by  the  gang,  will  focus  itself  in 
a  new  leader,  who  will  easily  displace  the  old 
and  help  to  save  the  gang.  Speedily  now 
enlist  the  boys  in  active,  altruistic  service  and 
thus  perpetuate  their  nobler  impulses. 

Types  of  Boy  Leaders. 

It  is  clear  from  the  above  that  the  two 
critical  factors  in  our  problem  are  Boy  Ideals 


SOME  BY-LAWS  237 

and  Boi^  Leaders.  The  latter  are  usually 
the  product  of  the  former  and  depend  upon 
them.  Boy  leaders  will  vary  with  the  variant 
ideals  of  different  groups,  and  will  change 
with  the  changing  ideals  of  the  same  group. 
We  shall  find,  then,  as  many  types  of  leaders 
as  there  are  distinct  types  of  ideals  which 
dominate  the  boy  visions.  In  our  task  of 
redeeming  the  gang,  it  is  exceedingly  impor- 
tant for  us  to  study  the  process  of  the  evolu- 
tion of  ascending  or  descending  ideals,  and 
the  types  of  leadership  that  result,  in  the 
different  stages  of  boy  development. 

In  the  period  of  childhood,  the  imitative 
impulse  rules  and  makes  the  power  of  the  boy 
leader  especially  dangerous,  but  in  the  later 
periods  his  power  is  only  less  influential,  until 
even  in  mature  life  we  find  the  political  boss 
and  the  "ward  heeler"  assuming  the  role  of 
the  gang  leader  among  men.  Without 
attempting  any  extended  explanation  of  this 
interesting  study,  we  offer  a  few  suggestions 
condensed  in  tabulated  form  for  convenience 
of  comparison: 


^ 

>> 

in 

a 

Q 

< 

ter,  the 
e  Bully 

th  high! 

Fighte: 
;ro  of  tl 

■hool  Bo 
-Dozer 

Showy  Boy,  wi 
ed  characteristic! 

Wrestler,    the 
perficial  Boy  H< 
ilsive  type 

Baseball  Hero 

Czar 

Gentleman 
cal  High  Sc 
ball  Hero 
oiter 

lectual  Bull 
Criminal 

O 

Cm 
>< 

e,  the 
e  Chief 
erful  B 
er  Boy 

H 

e  Brav 

•ior,  th 
e  Mast 
e  Bigg 

o  <u  >,  o  X  -g  o 

fl;  t?  aj  3  i  aj 

4)    4^    4)    4J    4^    4J    4) 

J    ^MJS 

j:  jz  s:  X  jz  jz  xi 

H      HH 

H       b^            H 

fr^ir<Hir^r^fr>b^ 

b 

ill 

3 

s 

3 

o 

.a 

'O 

-a 

c 
a; 

tn   be 
tn    a 

B 

tn              «  — ! 

ee 

t>» 

O              Clj 

2 

a 

> 

o 

Simple  savage  qualities 

barian  virtues 
Self-mastery,  physically 
Big-boyishness 

Barbarian  virtues 
Physical  strength,  agilit 

ance  and  skill 
Team  plaj' 

Feudal  virtues 
Knightliness 
High  school  characteristi 
Complex  team  play 
Resourcefulness 
Mental  alertness,  shrewd 
Skill  in   evasion  and  ge 
of  scrapes 

O 

«    i 

o  '?  8 

o 

Q     E 

:z   -r  X 

Q 
o 

Hi 

o 
X 
Q 

OYHOO 
Gang  Pe 

EARLY 

adolesce; 

"Chivalry  Pei 
(Grammar  Sc 

5 

H 

M          "i 

o   «- 

^           P 

■!->     1) 

be             •= 

(U;!^ 

■i-i    o 

§           <-s". 

Q 

< 

0<        fa   -M                  ^    M 

co-o     5  a  s 

O 

>< 

H 

£  CO  oa  „  cs^  § 

oQ  J^^-2_^^_« 

Ph     wh     hhh 

HHHHHHHH 

be 

B 

s 

2        CO 

4) 

c 

S       1 

o 

^      1  S  a« 

-  «  »  i  -5  s  1 

"—    ii    (U    "    3    ^    ^ 
F^    t-    r"    ^    ^  ' — 'CO 

>  t<  =  «  i  -^  .s 

2             *^ 

1      :5i3 

Cl,  O  cfi  <  a  cfi  >•  E 

K          ^ 

f^ 

a 
o 
t-t 
si 

K 
Oh 

O     «         be 

qS   S^-^  8 

^  H  -    "-^ 

O       4)             ^ 

^7  ^T     &,  C      bD 
■<    -^     :0    «       U 

"in 

< 

CHAPTER  XIII 

THE   BOY'S   RELIGION 

If  it  be  true  that  "Man  is  naturally  reli- 
gious," I  believe  it  is  doubly  true  of  boys. 
Adolescence  is  perhaps  the  most  religious 
epoch  of  a  human  life,  due  in  part  to  the  fact 
of  the  sudden  unfolding  of  the  sex  powers, 
as  well  as  the  flowering  of  all  other  elements 
in  the  personality.  Earlier  boyhood,  also, 
must  be  regarded  as  religious,  or  else  we  do 
the  boy  an  injustice.  He  is  naturally  reli- 
gious. But  it  must  be  a  natural  religion, 
that  is,  a  religion  natural  to  him,  or  it  is 
unreal. 

Permanent  harm  has  been  inflicted  upon 
boys  by  well-meaning  people  who  have  tried 
to  graft  adult  religion  upon  boy  experience. 
The  result  ir  either  a  farce  or  a  monstrosity. 
To  the  boy,  it  is  either  a  joke  or  a  funeral, 
usually  the  latter,  in  generations  past.  We 
today  can  see  only  a  tragedy  in  the  well- 
meant  but  cruel  custom  of  forcing  mere  chil- 
dren to  learn  by  rote  the  Westminster  Cate- 
chism. Imagine  what  an  active  boy  of  eight 
or  ten  used  to  think  about  the  answer  to  the 


242  BOY  LIFE 

question  "What  is  Effectual  Calling?" 
"Effectual  Calling  is  a  Work  of  God's  Spirit, 
whereby,  convincing  us  of  our  Sin  and 
Misery,  enlightening  our  minds  in  the  Knowl- 
edge of  Christ  and  renewing  our  Wills,  He 
doth  persuade  and  enable  us  to  embrace  Jesus 
Christ  freely  offered  to  us  in  the  Gospel." 
No  wonder  the  boy  was  afraid  of  the  dark, 
while  he  stretched  his  boy  brain  wondering 
what  all  these  fearful  words  might  mean. 
To  "convince  him  of  his  Sin  and  Misery"  was 
quite  an  undertaking ;  for  he  knew  little  of 
misery  and  less  of  sin.  Any  deep  sense  of 
sin  before  puberty  is  precocious. 

I  happened  to  notice,  recently,  a  young 
man  of  perhaps  twenty-five  studying  this 
catechism,  as  he  sat  directly  in  front  of  me 
on  the  train.  It  was  well  adapted  to  his 
adult  intelligence  and  probably  did  him  good 
But  to  give  such  spiritual  food  to  small  boys 
was  as  inappropriate  as  to  feed  lobster  to 
babies ;  or  possibly  hardtack,  to  use  a  more 
accurate  figure. 

Yet  this  pedagogic  blunder  is  not  all 
ancient  histor3\  It  comes  down  to  our  own 
day.  A  prominent  "child  evangelist"  of  a 
generation  ago  published  the  following  in 
his    book,    "The    Conversion    of    Children": 


THE  BOY'S  RELIGION  243 

"Little  ones  of  five  or  six  years  tell  us  that 
they  wet  their  pillows  night  after  night  with 
tears  of  sorrow  for  sin."  To  such  a  mon- 
strous statement  the  best  suggestion  is 
possibly  the  hope  that  the  good  brother 
misread  the  weather  signs !  Let  us  hope  the 
tears  were  only  a  sunshower  with  purely  a 
natural  cause,  and  maybe  a  rainbow  some- 
where. We  would  not  condemn  any  sincere 
man,  but  it  does  seem  that  a  man  who  spends 
his  energies  trying  to  convict  babies  of  sin 
is  not  a  fisher  of  men  but  a  scooper  of 
minnows. 

The  appeal  to  fear  has  its  proper  place,  a 
small  place ;  but  its  place  is  not  with  children. 
Let  us  use  it  only  with  grown  men.  The  boy 
who  is  scared  into  the  Kingdom,  will  either 
find  a  better  reason  for  staying  in,  or  he  will 
leave  by  the  most  convenient  gate  after  his 
panic  is  over. 

It  is  perfectly  evident,  is  it  not,  that  the 
old-fashioned  blunder  of  treating  children 
like  little  old  men,  instead  of  embryonic  can- 
didates for  humanity,  is  most  of  all  apparent 
in  the  realm  of  religion.  Religiously,  the 
boy  has  been  abused,  no  mistake  about  it. 
He  has  been  offered  a  grown-up  religious  diet 
which  he  simply  could  not  use.     It  was  abso- 


244  BOY  LIFE 

lutely  not  adapted  to  his  nature  or  his  needs. 
It  gave  him  a  bad  case  of  spiritual  indigestion 
if  he  tried  to  swallow  it,  and  if  he  had  courage 
and  sense  enough  to  refuse  it,  he  was  branded 
as  an  unregenerate.  Poor  boy !  No  wonder 
not  one  man  in  twenty  was  a  church  member 
in  those  days. 

As  in  all  other  matters  relating  to  boy  life, 
we  must  study  the  boy  to  find  what  is  natural 
and  right.  Socially,  physically,  pedagogi- 
calh^,  we  arc  learning  to  take  our  cue  from 
the  boy.  It  is  most  important  in  the  realm 
of  the  spiritual.  The  boy  is  susceptible  to 
religious  appeals,  all  the  way  along  through 
his  boyhood  and  youth ;  but  we  must  let  him 
teach  us  what  religious  experiences  and  forms 
of  expression  are  natural  to  him,  and  what 
sort  of  religious  appeals  will  win  him. 

In  this  connection,  one  of  my  brightest 
students  in  Religious  Education  recently 
reminded  me  of  the  famous  Botanical  Gardens 
at  Edinburgh.  In  different  rooms,  under 
glass,  may  be  found  the  flora  of  different 
climates  and  countries,  growing  in  great  pro- 
fusion and  beauty,  each  fulfilling  the  demands 
of  its  own  nature,  though  far  from  its  native 
heath.  The  horticulturist,  by  painstaking 
study  and  observation,  had  discovered  accu- 


THE  BOY'S  RELIGION  245 

rately  the  sort  of  environment  and  treatment, 
soil  and  temperature,  which  was  natural  to 
each  variety  of  plant  and  flower;  and  then, 
in  the  foreign  land,  he  produced  artificially 
the  perfect  imitation  of  the  plant's  natural 
habitat,  with  perfect  results.  Now  suppose 
he  had  insisted  upon  growing  his  flowers 
according  to  his  own  preconceived  notions  as 
to  the  sort  of  temperature  and  moisture  they 
ought  to  want,  and  had  tried  to  grow  tropical 
plants  as  he  would  the  Scotch  heather — we 
should  call  him  a  plain  unvarnished  fool! 
He  would  either  have  killed  his  plants  out- 
right or  at  least  denatured  them  in  the  raw 
Scotch  climate. 

Equally  foolish  has  been  the  treatment  of 
boys  by  men  who  have  insisted  on  dictating 
terms  to  boy  life,  instead  of  discovering  the 
secrets  of  boy  nature.  To  enforce  con- 
formity to  adult  notions,  in  this  matter  of 
religion  in  boyhood,  is  to  destroy  the  vigor 
and  spontaneity  and  fruitfulness  of  the  boy's 
religious  experience.  The  product  will  prob- 
ably be  a  weak,  characterless  person,  devoid 
of  originality  or  effectiveness.  Let  nature 
dictate  nurture  not  the  reverse. 

A  few  weeks  ago,  I  asked  a  class  of  twenty 
men,  all  college  graduates,  if  they  had  ever 


246  BOY  LIFE 

seen  a  tadpole  shed  its  tail.  One  of  them 
thought  he  had  when  a  boy,  and  said  he 
assisted  the  process!  The  cruel  boy;  he 
prevented  that  tadpole  ever  growing  into  a 
frog.  Stanley  Hall  has  made  good  peda- 
gogic use  of  the  fact  that  tadpoles  never  shed 
their  tails.  As  you  well  know,  the  tails  are 
absorbed ;  or  rather,  the  same  material  which 
formed  the  tail  is  taken  over  into  the  legs 
of  the  growing  frog.  If  by  some  accident 
the  tadpole's  tail  is  cut  off,  it  is  doomed  to 
die  a  tadpole ;  for  it  can  never  become  a  frog 
and  live  the  higher  life  of  an  amphibian.  It 
cannot  climb  out  upon  the  land. 

Exactly  this  process  is  repeated  in  boy  life 
in  connection  with  all  the  rudimentary  traits 
and  functions  of  boy  nature,  the  inherited 
instincts,  the  race  habits  which  have  come 
down  to  the  boy  from  the  distant  past;  the 
cruder  instincts  which  tend  to  rehearse  some 
of  the  world  drama  of  long  lost  savagery  or 
barbarism,  or  the  boisterous  culture  of  the 
feudal  age.  To  repress  these  instincts,  or 
root  them  out,  is  to  repeat  the  tragedy  of 
cutting  off  the  tadpole's  tail.  Let  the  rudi- 
mentary stages  of  boy  life  have  their  day, 
their  normal  sway.  It  is  dangerous  to 
thwart  nature.      Obey  her,  and  the  boy  will 


THE  BOY'S  RELIGION  247 

grow  into  all  the  richer  manhood.  "Well," 
says  Froebel,  the  master  teacher  of  modern 
pedagogy,  "every  child  must  live  out  com- 
pletely every  complete  stage  of  childhood,  or 
he  can  never  develop  into  complete  maturity." 
We  should  discover  then,  if  it  is  possible, 
the  stages  of  development  which  the  rehgious 
instinct  and  the  religious  impulses  and  senti- 
ments pass  through  in  the  years  of  growing 
boyhood.  Here  boys  will  differ  greatly,  and 
which  type  of  boy  is  the  truest  type,  it  is  hard 
to  say.  In  very  early  bo3^hood  we  get  occa- 
sional evidences,  usually  in  very  imaginative 
children,  that  the  boy  is  rapidly  passing 
through  the  same  general  stages  of  religious 
experience  which  the  race  passed  through 
long  before  him.  Dr.  Hall  asserts,  "Every 
child  that  has  a  fair  chance  at  life  passes 
through  the  stage  of  being  a  fetich- 
worshiper."^  This  opinion  is  shared  by 
many  writers  of  recent  years,  though  not 
always  so  confidently.  Few  of  us  can  re- 
member such  an  experience  in  our  own  child- 
hood, for  it  occurs  so  early ;  but  occasionally 
we  find  a  little  fellow  whose  quaint  ideas 
remind  us  of  the  religion  of  childlike  races 
of  men.     His  world  is  a  hig-hlv  imaginative 


1  "Principles  of  Religious  Education,"  p.  168. 


248  BOY  LIFE 

world  of  countless  spirits.  Everything  is 
alive  to  him  and  has  a  divinity  within  it. 
There  are  fairies  and  hobgoblins,  happy 
sprites  and  wicked  gnomes  and  pigmies  with 
giants  in  the  forest  caves  and  nymphs  in 
every  wooded  stream. 

Such  a  child  is  apt  to  imagine  such  living 
spirits  within  the  familiar  objects  about  his 
home  and  even  personifies  his  toys.  Crude 
playthings  with  no  special  value  he  prizes 
beyond  all  reason.  Dr.  Hall  cites  a  case  of 
a  little  knot  of  wood  with  a  curious  spot  in 
it,  which  the  boy  had  carried  a  long  time 
in  his  pocket,  even  wrapping  it  up  to  protect 
it  from  the  cold,  and  taking  it  with  him  like 
a  charm  wherever  he  went.  This  animistic 
instinct  in  the  child  or  the  childlike  race  is 
due  to  the  half-discoveries  of  life.  The  child 
is  waking  to  the  wonderful  discovery  that 
everything  living  has  its  own  secret  of  life 
and  growth.  There  is  a  spirit  in  it,  true 
enough.  It  is  the  spirit  of  the  living  God. 
Can  we  blame  him  for  personifying  this 
spirit.?  Neither  can  the  small  child  at  first 
distinguish  between  the  thing  that  has  life, 
and  the  mechanical  toy  that  seems  to  have 
life.  He  tears  both  open  to  find  the  secret, 
only  to  discover  that  the  spirit  has  fled.     The 


THE  BOY'S  RELIGION  249 

spirit  of  the  butterfly  or  of  the  talking  doll 
from  Paris  cannot  survive  dismemberment. 

Nature  worship  is  often  an  important 
stage  in  the  natural  religion  of  early  boy- 
hood. The  grov.ing  love  for  the  beautiful 
in  form  and  color,  added  to  the  sense  of  the 
mystical,  centers  the  child  admiration  in  the 
world  of  nature  which  God  has  made  so  beau- 
tiful. Particularly  strong  is  this  religious 
impulse  in  early  spring  time,  in  normal  child- 
hood in  the  country.  As  the  miracle  of  the 
spring  resurrection  returns,  the  healthy  boy 
often  finds  keen  delight  in  a  real  communion 
with  nature.  Daily  he  consults  her  oracles, 
listens  to  her  secrets,  worships  at  her  shrine, 
and  his  unfolding  soul  is  fed  from  her  abun- 
dant storehouse  and  his  thirst  for  knowledge 
and  for  God  slaked  at  her  sacred  springs. 
The  Heavenly  Father  has  many  wonderful 
lessons  to  teach  the  growing  boy  just  at  this 
time ;  and  unless  the  boy  has  a  chance  to  learn 
them,  his  Imagination  is  never  again  so 
strong,  his  sense  of  the  beautiful  dwindles, 
and  with  it  much  of  the  gesthetic  power  which 
should  enrich  his  heart  life  Avith  the  poet's 
vision  and  the  artist's  perspective  and  pro- 
portion. Just  now  with  a  microscope  you 
may  help  the  boy  find  God. 


250  BOY  LIFE 

The  larger  aspects  of  nature,  as  well  as 
the  more  minute,  have  their  own  grand  mes- 
sages for  the  boy  soul.  Renan  has  reminded 
us  that  the  clouds  and  the  thunder  and  the 
mountains  had  a  vast  influence  in  shaping 
the  religious  ideas  of  the  Hebrews.  The  sun 
and  the  moon  surely  had  great  religious 
influence  not  only  upon  Zoroastrianism,  the 
purest  of  the  non-Christian  faiths,  but  upon 
all  the  world.  It  is  from  the  grandeur  of 
nature  that  we  learn  the  majesty  of  God. 
While  the  clouds  lure  the  boy's  imagination 
through  sky  pastures  of  riotous  fancy  and 
suggest  to  him  the  boundless  riches  of  space, 
it  is  from  the  mountains  he  learns  his  little- 
ness and  from  the  thunder  he  learns  his  weak- 
ness. Both  suddenly  teach  him  to  be  humble 
in  the  presence  of  their  sublimity.  Our 
Aryan  ancestors  were  polythcists,  worship- 
ing, we  are  told,  upwards  of  three  thousand 
divinities.  Among  these  gods  we  find  all  the 
powers  of  nature  deified  and  almost  every 
type  of  natural  object  personified.  It  now 
seems  as  though  the  boy,  with  his  primitive 
consciousness  and  childish  intellect,  were 
passing  through  the  experiences  of  his  child- 
like ancestors  in  the  primitive  days  of  the 
race.        "It    is    the    same    spirit,"    says    Dr. 


THE  BOY'S  RELIGION  251 

Dawson,  "that  led  the  Druids  of  Western 
Europe  to  worsliip  the  trees ;  the  Aztecs,  the 
sun ;  and  the  ancient  Egyptians  and  Hindus, 
the  waters  of  the  Nile  and  Ganges." 

The  myth-making  tendencies  of  children 
follow  their  impulse  for  nature  worship.  The 
mythologies  of  Greeks  and  Romans,  of  the 
Norsemen  and  the  children  of  the  East,  were 
very  childhke;  and  many  modern  children  of 
poetic  and  fanciful  mood  pass  through  this 
stage  of  development  clearly.  Tiele  in  his 
Gifford  Lectures  ("Elements  of  the  Science 
of  Religion")  emphasizes  this  Mythopoeic 
stage  in  the  childhood  days  of  the  race. 
Haslett  says  this  tendency  sometimes  begins 
as  early  as  the  fourth  or  fifth  year.  Poor 
indeed  is  the  boy's  imagination  and  dull  his 
inner  vision,  if  he  does  not  fancy  that  every- 
thing has  its  story;  and  lacking  the  answer 
to  his  stream  of  questions,  in  the  great  "Why 
Period"  of  life  (from  six  to  nine  years,  says 
Professor  Baldwin),  he  conjures  up  his  own 
answers  according  to  his  best  fancy- 
Now  is  the  time  he  hungers  for  the  won- 
derful. The  miraculous  entrances  him. 
Nothing  is  too  grotesque  to  please  him. 
The  impossible  story,  he  delights  in.        He 


9.52  BOY  LIFE 

revels  in  myths  in  prose  or  poetry,  in  folk- 
lore, saga,  epic,  legend,  and  miracle. 
Fiction  he  enjoys  more  than  truth.  This  is 
why  he  does  not  always  find  truth  telling 
easy !  Superstitions,  traditions,  symbolism, 
ritual,  all  wield  a  great  power  over  him, 
while  he  gropes  his  way  to  a  personal  faith, 
and  personal  standards  of  right  and  wrong. 
This  ethical  phase  of  his  child  religion  comes 
after  the  nature  worship  and  myth-making 
periods  have  waned,  and  the  boy  finds  the 
spirits  of  life  really  to  be  one  Spirit,  the 
Great  Spirit,  the  Father  God  whose  will  is 
law,  whose  wish  is  righteousness. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  this  process 
of  rehearsing  the  racial  experience  is  by  no 
means  uniform  nor  universal.  Perhaps  few 
children  are  animistic;  too  few  are  nature 
worshipers,  or  myth  lovers,  and  more  is  the 
pity  ;  for  the  dwarfing  of  the  child  imagina- 
tion results  in  mental  poverty  and  religious 
barrenness.  Each  of  these  racial  instincts 
should  yield  its  rich  contribution  to  the  boy's 
growing  religious  experience.  From  the  first 
stage  he  should  learn  to  find  God  present  in 
all  things  living.  In  the  second,  he  should 
find  in  the  very  beauty  and  grandeur  of 
nature  the  character  of  the  Father  God;  and 


THE  BOY'S  RELIGION  253 

out  of  his  myth-making  should  finally  emerge 
the  simple  truth  in  its  beauty,  all  the  clearer 
by  contrast  with  fancy ;  while  the  ethical 
stage  should  furnish  him  a  conscience,  clear 
and  strong. 

But  to  leave  the  growing  boy  to  grope  his 
way  unaided  along  the  spiral  struggle  of  the 
race  is  needless  and  unnatural.  Rousseau 
was  anxious  to  keep  even  the  name  of  God 
from  little  Emile  before  the  years  of  adoles- 
cence ;  and  some  still  have  this  foolish  theory. 
In  Christian  homes,  however,  the  boy  will  be 
strongly  influenced  by  the  Christian  char- 
acter and  teaching  of  his  mother  and  his 
father.  Upon  the  warp  of  primitive  racial 
experience,  as  described  above,  will  be  woven 
the  woof  of  Christian  influences.  So  we  find 
it  in  every  phase  of  the  small  boy's  life, 
psychic,  social  and  religious.  There  are  two 
great  forces  in  the  boy  constantly  in  stress, 
the  force  of  distant  heredity  and  the  force  of 
environment.  Whether  the  inherited  racial 
religious  instincts  or  the  enfolding  Christian 
influences  are  dominant,  will  depend  upon  the 
strength  of  the  latter,  the  temperament  of 
the  boy  and  his  susceptibility  to  the  influences 
surrounding  him.  But  in  any  case  the  boy 
should  very  early  come  to  feel  the  touch  of 


254  BOY  LIFE 

his  parent's  faith  and  to  love  his  Heavenly 
Father  with  a  simple,  childlike  naturalness. 

Baldwin^  beautifully  traces  the  early  reli- 
gious development  through  two  main  lines  of 
growth,  in  response  to  the  sense  of  dependence 
and  the  sense  of  mystery.  When  the  child  in 
a  state  of  physical  helplessness  first  awakes 
to  his  surroundings,  his  mother  and  his  father 
are  his  only  divinities.  Soon  he  comes  to 
regard  his  father  with  superior  azve,  partly 
because  he  knows  his  mother  better ;  and 
though  he  may  love  his  mother  more,  his 
father  is  his  hero.  But  the  day  he  discovers 
his  father  incapable  of  meeting  all  his  needs, 
that  day  he  projects  into  the  unseen  his  feel- 
ing of  dependence,  and  begins  to  grope  for 
God.  In  the  same  way  the  growing  sense  of 
mystery  leads  him  Godward.  His  father  for 
awhile  is  to  him  all-wise.  He  can  answer  all 
questions  and  explain  all  problems !  But  the 
unhappy  day  dawns  when  the  father  belies 
his  omniscience  or  flatly  says  he  does  not 
know.  Again  the  boy,  in  hurt  surprise,  out- 
grows his  idol  and  carries  his  unsolved 
mysteries  of  life  to  a  higher  Being,  who  must 
be  wiser  than  his  father. 


1  "Social  and  Ethical  Interpretations  in  Mental  Development," 

p.  840fr. 


THE  BOY'S  RELIGION  255 

This  explains  to  me  the  fact  which  Pro- 
fessor Barnes  states  in  his  "Studies  in  Educa- 
tion": "A  child  has  a  natural  need  of  a 
theology,  and  if  he  is  not  given  one,  he  will 
create  it.  The  deeper  demand  which  drove 
little  George  Sand  to  develop  an  elaborate 
theology  and  ritual,  and  which  drove  Goethe, 
at  seven,  to  erect  an  altar  and  enact  the  part 
of  a  high  priest,  must  surely  come  to  imagina- 
tive children  who  find  themselves  so  con- 
stantly hemmed  in  by  the  phenomenal."^ 
Certain  it  is,  that  in  very  early  years  most 
of  the  great  fundamental  mysteries  of  life  are 
frankly  faced  by  the  boy  whose  mind  is  at  all 
active.  He  discovers  early  that  there  are 
great  fundamental  philosophical  and  reli- 
gious problems,  which  still  puzzle  his  father; 
and  if  he  cannot  get  satisfactory  explanations 
from  his  father  he  thinks  out  some  very  crude 
answers  for  himself,  and  4;rusts  God  for  the 
rest. 

Yes,  no  one  can  deny  that  the  child  is 
normally  religious.  He  is  not  a  child  of  the 
devil ;  he  is  born  the  child  of  God.  Old 
sinners  must  be  born  again  as  little  children, 
that  they  may  enter  the  kingdom  of  Heaven. 
The  little  children  are  already  in  the  king- 

1  Vol.  II.,  p.  287. 


256  BOY  LIFE 

dom :  for  "of  such  is  the  kingdom,"  and  they 
need  to  be  guarded  only  lest  they  be  con- 
verted away  from  the  heavenly  kingdom  into 
which  they  were  born.  We  should  never 
forget  that  Jesus'  word,  "Ye  must  be  born 
again,"  was  said,  not  to  a  child,  but  to  a 
grown  man ;  and  a  church  member  at  that. 

Certain  elements  of  the  natural  religion  of 
later  childhood,  perhaps  at  ten  years,  are 
significant  items  in  the  childlikeness  which 
Jesus  praised  as  the  essential  characteristic 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven:  Notable  is  the 
boy's  inherent  faith  in  God  and  simple  trust 
in  God ;  his  clear  acceptance  of  immortality 
as  an  axiom ;  his  faith  in  the  goodness  of  God 
and  his  instinctive  dependence  upon  it ; 
his  intuitive  knowledge  that  God  is  a 
loving,  personal  spirit,  the  causal  agent 
and  source  of  life,  at  the  heart  of  things ;  and 
also  his  honest  conscientiousness.  These  are 
among  the  fundamental  religious  instincts  of 
the  human  race.  In  their  purest,  simplest 
form,  the  child  possesses  them.  No  wonder 
the  Wisest  and  Best  once  said:  "Suffer  the 
little  children  to  come  unto  me  and  forbid 
them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."^     "Except  ye  turn  and  become  as 

1  Matthew  19:14. 


THE  BOY'S  RELIGION  257 

little  children,  ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven."  ^ 

Haslett  well  describes  the  transition  from 
the  child's  religion  to  that  of  the  older  boy : 
"About  ten  or  eleven  the  child  begins  to  mani- 
fest an  interest  in  the  why  of  things  chiefly 
for  ethical  reasons  and  not  merely  as  a  result 
of  curiosity  or  the  functioning  of  the  self. 
Until  this  time  the  religion  of  the  child  has 
been  taken  as  a  matter  of  course,  as  a  part 
of  the  daily  routine  of  life.  The  concrete, 
practical  and  motor  phases  of  the  religious 
life  were  interesting.  But  now  the  mind 
questions  partly  because  the  spiritual  char- 
acter of  religion  is  becoming  prominent. 
Religion  is  now  more  than  an  ethical  code 
framed  and  imposed  by  those  in  authority ;  it 
is  felt  by  the  individual  and  has  a  meaning. 
It  deepens,  is  inspiring  and  enforces  obliga- 
tion. Religion  is  becoming  a  personal  affair 
and  possessing  some  relation  to  the  actions  of 
life.  During  this  stage  the  creature  is  being 
transformed  from  a  creature  of  command, 
law  and  custom  in  religious  life  to  one  of 
freedom,  choice  and  experience.  The  indi- 
vidual manifests  a  tendency  to  form  his  own 
creed  and  shape  his  religion.     This  independ- 

1  Matthew  18:9. 


258  BOY  LIFE 

cnce  is  developed  in  the  later  years  of  adoles- 
cence. But  these  transitional  years  are 
years  of  beginnings,  awakenings,  fathomings, 
transformations  and  revolutions."  ^ 

The  evolution  of  the  religion  of  boyhood 
is  beautiful,  wonderful,  entirely  natural. 
The  evolution  of  the  religion  of  youth  is  more 
subtle,  still  more  wonderful,  but  no  less 
natural.  It  is  simply  the  way  of  God  with 
the  hoy  soul. 

We  shall  find  a  distinct  difference  often 
between  the  boy's  religion  in  the  three  periods 
of  adolescence,  due  of  course  to  the  differ- 
ence in  the  boy.  Let  us  try  to  trace  this 
development,  so  far  as  we  can  find  the  average 
experience  at  each  stage  of  the  process. 

The  boy  on  the  verge  of  physical  manhood 
is  at  the  first  crisis  of  his  life,  and  though  he 
understands  it  not,  he  is  conscious  of  strange 
movings  within  him.  It  is  of  course  a  mental 
crisis  no  less  than  physical  and  it  should  be 
a  religious  and  social  crisis  also,  for  puberty 
is  essentially  a  new  birth  of  the  person  into 
a  larger  life.  It  is  the  new  birth,  not  merely 
of  bodily  functions  and  powers,  but  of  new 
thoughts,  feelings,  sympathies,  ambitions, 
emotions,  passions,  ideals  and  convictions,  in 

I  "The  Pedagogical  Bible  School,"  p.  155.    2  do,  p.  158. 


THE  BOY'S  RELIGION  259 

short,  of  everything  which  deepens,  exalts  and 
enriches  the  boy's  Hfe.  It  is  the  real  birth  of 
the  individual,  into  independence  in  thinking, 
feeling,  choosing;  though  not  fully  realized 
for  two  or  three  years  to  come.  It  is  the  slow 
awakening  of  the  God-given  reason,  born  to 
supersede  instinct  and  to  check  or  direct 
impulse.  It  is  especially  the  flowering  of  the 
social  instinct,  which  hitherto  has  not  been 
prominent.  With  the  birth  of  altruistic  feel- 
ings the  boy  outgrows  his  egoism,  often  his 
selfishness,  and  his  interests  broaden  with  his 
sympathies.  His  social  radius,  which  had 
been  very  short,  progressively  annexes  the 
world.  He  becomes  a  citizen,  a  social  unit 
worthy  of  the  toga  virilis  which  the  Romans 
conferred  at  fourteen. 

The  special  religious  crisis  at  dawning 
adolescence  was  recognized  even  by  the 
savage.  Dr.  Haslett  strongly  avers  that 
"It  has  been  recognized  by  all  peoples,  in  all 
ages  and  in  all  climes.  You  find  it  in  the 
lowest  savage  tribe  where  the  individual  is 
mutilated,  beaten,  sent  away  to  the  forest  to 
live  or  die  according  as  he  possesses  or  lacks 
the  strength  or  endurance  to  undergo  the 
experiences  that  form  part  of  the  ritual. 
You  find  it  in  the  most  elaborate  service  of 


260  BOY  LIFE 

the  mother  of  churches,  the  Roman  Catholic, 
where  the  apphcant  is  trained,  instructed, 
robed,  honored,  and  finally  confirmed  amid  all 
the  splendor  and  display  of  that  confirmation 
rite.  Between  these  two  range  the  manifold 
forms  and  ceremonies  that  man  in  all  stages 
of  his  long  course  from  savagery  to  culture 
has  developed  and  observed  for  the  initiation 
of  the  young  adolescent  into  the  new  life."  ^ 
The  great  religious  value  of  a  confirmation 
service  of  dignity,  impressiveness  and  sin- 
cerity has  been  noted  by  many  writers. 
Doubtless  the  evangelical  churches  which  do 
not  confirm  may  secure  for  their  children  the 
full  value  of  this  timely  and  historic  function 
by  encouraging  conversion  at  about  this 
period  and  following  it  with  a  worthy  and 
impressive  service,  when  the  boy  takes  the 
covenant  of  Christian  living  and  joins  the 
church.  It  is  no  meaningless  coincidence 
that  the  culmination  of  the  religious  impulses 
and  the  sex  impulses  come  together.  Both, 
as  Mercier  says,  are  founded  on  the  universal 
principle  of  self-sacrifice.  Both  mean  life  for 
others.  Now  as  never  before,  the  boy  is 
sounding  the  depths  of  his  soul.  It  forces 
him  into  unselfishness,  as  his  new  abundance 

*1  "The  Pedagogical  Bible  School,"  p.  158. 


THE  BOY'S  RELIGION  261 

of  life  overflows  for  the  life  of  others  and  his 
childish  religion  of  formal  routine  and  ritual 
now  outgrows  itself  and  becomes  a  life 
passion,  a  loyal  devotion,  a  heart  consecra- 
tion. This  is  the  chivalry  period  of  boy  life, 
early  adolescence,  and  its  characteristic  is 
personal  loyalty  and  hero  worship.  Nothing 
could  be  more  natural  than  for  the  boy  soon 
to  yield  his  supreme  loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ 
his  Lord. 

The  religion  of  childhood  is  necessarily  the 
religion  of  authority,  like  the  reUgion  of 
childlike  peoples.  But  in  adolescence,  reli- 
gion becomes  a  matter  of  personal  choice  and 
personal  experience.  The  authority  of  tradi- 
tion wanes  gradually  now  and  reason  begins 
to  assert  its  sway.  Often  boys  now  are 
strangely  reticent,  and  for  a  season  the 
objective  religion  of  childish  deeds  swings 
over  to  an  almost  morbid  subjectivity. 
Especially  the  boy  of  the  obstructed-will  type, 
who  has  probably  not  come  to  the  point  of 
religious  decision  as  his  playmates  have,  will 
develop  too  much  introspection  and  sensitive- 
ness. He  becomes  an  ingrowing  soul,  just 
when  he  should  expand,  radiate,  overflow. 
Normally  the  boy  seeks  expression  rather 
than   repression   of  his   feelings.     He  grad- 


262  BOY  LIFE 

uates  from  the  childlike  love  of  nature  to  the 
love  of  persons,  and  crowns  this  love  with 
deeds  of  loyal  devotion.  He  finds  new  incen- 
tives in  the  joy  of  doing  for  others.  His 
personal  hkes  and  dislikes  are  strong,  some- 
times illogical,  but  vast  in  motive  power. 
His  admiration  for  certain  types  of  character 
is  unbounded.  He  is  successively  choosing 
his  ideals,  testing  them,  discarding  them,  out- 
growing them  ;  but  meanwhile  reverencing  the 
object  of  his  hero  worship  with  an  unselfish- 
ness good  to  see. 

"  How  beautiful  is  Youth !  how  bright  it  gleams 
With  its  illusions,  aspirations,  dreams ! 
Book   of    Beginnings,    Story    without    End, 
Each  maid  a  heroine  and  each  man  a  friend!" 

Middle  adolescence  intensifies  the  perma- 
nent qualities  and  tendencies  of  the  earlier 
period.  It  is  rather  generally  agreed  that 
this  is  the  most  important  period  of  a  human 
life.  It  is  the  epoch  which  determines  the  use 
of  personal  power.  Many  habits  of  course 
are  already  acquired ;  but  now  life  ideals  are 
determined,  controlling  purposes,  ultimate 
interests  grow  strong;  the  moral  tone  and 
spirit  of  the  life  become  set,  and  the  character 
is  formed.  Seldom  does  manhood  belie  the 
prophecy  of  the  middle  teens. 


THE  BOY'S  RELIGION  263 

Early  adolescence  marks  preeminently  the 
social  awakening  of  the  soul,  the  discovery 
of  the  world  of  persons.  Middle  adolescence 
completes  the  boy's  discovery  of  himself. 
Individuality  is  the  key  word  best  describing 
the  religious  development  now.  The  boy  has 
finally  come  to  himself.  He  has  wandered 
through  the  flowered  meadows  of  childhood, 
fancy  free  and  joyous,  led  by  the  guardian 
angels  of  instinct ;  gradually  he  gained  self- 
consciousness  in  boyhood  and  found  the 
answer  to  many  life  riddles,  seen  through  the 
glorified  haze  of  the  half-understood.  But 
now  through  the  gateway  of  puberty,  the 
youth  emerges  into  the  broader  fields  and 
mountain-girt  prospects  of  the  larger  life  of 
manhood,  a  way  beset  with  many  dangers,  to 
be  sure,  but  with  high  ambitions,  exhilarating 
visions,  and  worth  while  work  to  do  in  the 
world  to  keep  one  strong.  The  high  school 
boy  consults  the  oracles  and  finds  himself  a 
man.  He  is  a  person,  he  will  stand  alone ! 
He  resents  interference,  coddling,  discipline, 
advice,  except  from  whom  he  chooses.  It  is 
the  self-assertive  period  of  life,  often  the  revo- 
lutionary period.  Its  dangers  are  grave  and 
serious ;  but  its  opportunity  is  glorious  !  It 
is    the    life    chance    which    comes    to    every 


264  BOY  LIFE 

healthy,  wholesome  youth,  born  to  the  purple, 
the  royal  purple  of  sonship  to  God ;  the 
chance  to  live  a  kingly  life,  to  master  self,  to 
overcome  selfishness,  to  throttle  evil  passions 
and  unworthy  emotions,  to  crown  with  grow- 
ing efficiency  and  usefulness  every  worthy 
talent  and  personal  power;  in  short  to  grow 
into  symmetrical,  well-rounded  manliness. 
Christian  manliness,  the  threefold  Ufe  which 
makes  a  man,  in  body,  mind  and  spirit. 

This  cannot  all  be  accomplished  in  this 
brief  period ;  but  it  can  all  be  planned.  It  is 
this  utter  self-devotion  to  a  lofty  life  ambi- 
tion to  which  normal  conversion  leads.  In 
boyhood,  imagination  soars ;  in  youth,  ambi- 
tion. It  is  the  age  of  faith  and  courage 
undaunted,  and  an  enthusiasm  that  stirs  even 
the  dry  bones  of  sophisticated  age.  How 
truly  Longfellow  sings  of  this  period  of 
youth : 

"  All  possibilities  are  in  its  hands, 
No  danger  daunts  it  and  no  foe  withstands. 
In  its  sublime  audacity  of  faith, 
'Be  thou  removed'  it  to  the  mountain  saith; 
And  with  ambitious   feet,  secure  and  proud. 
Ascends  the  ladder  leaning  on  the  cloud!" 

When  this  natural  heroism  of  youth  is 
combined  at  this  period  with  the  religious 
impulse,  the  result  is  inspiring.     Conversion 


THE  BOY'S  RELIGION  265 

in  early  adolescence  is  entirely  safe  and 
normal  in  the  thoroughly  devout  home ;  but 
probably  in  these  days  it  seldom  occurs  before 
the  beginning  of  the  high  school  period.  All 
investigations  show  the  conversion  curve  to 
be  highest  now  in  middle  adolescence.  It  is 
probably  best  so,  in  most  cases.  Surely  the 
personal  religious  experience  will  be  deeper, 
fuller  and  more  earnest  now  than  in  the 
shallower  life  currents  of  childhood.  Now 
the  full  tides  of  feeling  and  emotion  will  give 
impressiveness  and  power  to  the  experience, 
and  developing  reason  will  interpret  intelli- 
gently its  meaning  to  the  soul.  It  is  likely 
to  be  a  permanent  investment  of  the  life,  as 
a  child  conversion  may  not  prove  to  be. 
Even  when  the  boy  in  the  Christian  home,  who 
has  always  considered  himself  a  Christian 
perhaps,  at  least  has  always  meant  to  be,  and 
has  as  a  child  loved  Jesus  Christ  with  a  sincere 
and  childhke  simplicity ;  all  of  which  is  as 
natural  as  it  is  beautiful ;  even  in  such  case, 
when  the  boy  passes  through  the  deeper 
experiences  of  adolescence,  he  finds  the 
re-birth  of  the  soul  as  necessary  as  was  the 
new  birth  of  body  and  of  mind.  In  such 
cases  the  "illumination"  experience  of  whole- 
souled  dedication   to  God,  which  may  come 


266  BOY  LIFE 

several  3'ears  after  church  membership,  is 
practically  a  new  conversion,  made  necessary 
by  the  higher  levels,  or  rather  the  deeper 
currents,  of  the  adolescent  life. 

The  winning  appeal  to  the  boy  at  this 
period  must  be  the  broad  appeal  to  his  whole 
manhood.  A  narrow  religious  appeal  fails 
to  win  a  whole  boy.  I  long  since  ceased  to 
believe  people  who  claim  that  the  j'oung  man 
is  hopelessly  irreligious,  because  he  is  not 
pious  according  to  his  grandfather's  stan- 
dards or  does  not  like  to  pray  in  public.  The 
young  fellow  may  even  pretend  to  be  irrev- 
erent and  like  to  parade  his  doubts,  but  he 
is  not  immune  to  religious  influence  of  the 
right  sort.  It  is  a  double  slander  on  young 
manhood  and  true  religion,  to  assert  that 
when  the  boy  graduates  from  boyhood  on 
leaving  his  toys,  his  tops  and  his  marbles, 
he  has  outgrown  his  capacity  for  rehgion. 
No,  he  is  just  discovering  that  capacity,  and 
is  finding  that  his  childish,  formal  religion  of 
boyhood  does  not  satisfy  it.  I  have  even 
more  faith  in  the  young  man  than  I  have  in 
the  boy.  You  can  win  him  for  Christ  and 
the  church.  You  need  not  make  the  confes- 
sion of  the  defeated  minister,  that  the  only 
way  to  save  the  man  is  to  catch  him  young 


THE  BOY'S  RELIGION  267 

and  win  the  boy.  Do  not  give  up  the  high 
school  boy ;  you  can  win  him  with  God's  help. 
The  simple  prescription  is  an  intelligent 
personal  interest,  a  working  plan,  and  a 
moderate  investment  of  time. 

The  young  man  of  eighteen  is  no  longer  a 
boy.  You  have  treated  him  as  a  boy? 
That's  why  he  vanished  around  your  corner ! 
He  knows  he  is  a  man,  in  everything  but 
experience,  and  sometimes  he  has  more  of 
that  than  is  good  for  him,  and  more  than  any 
one  gives  him  credit  for.  There  is  much  of 
the  boy  in  the  youth  of  eighteen.  There 
ought  to  be.  But  there  is  also  a  deal  of  man- 
liness in  him.  Sometimes  it  is  a  frank, 
wholesome  manliness  that  is  good  to  see.  At 
other  times  it  is  tinctured  with  a  cynicism 
which  suggests  the  disillusionment  of  boy- 
hood's visions,  and  the  disappointment  that 
follows  life's  early  shocks  of  defeat.  He  is 
no  longer  a  boy ;  but  not  quite  a  man. 

In  these  days  the  young  man  has  absorbed 
not  a  little  criticism  of  the  church  and  of 
religion ;  and  though  trained  in  a  religious 
home,  has  little  regard  for  static  piety,  or 
conventional  religious  forms  and  usages. 
His  Christian  Endeavor  Society  has  not  made 
a  reverent  mystic  of  him ;  possibly  has  had 


268  BOY  LIFE 

quite  the  opposite  effect.  It  is  with  difficulty 
that  he  has  been  kept  in  the  Sunday-school; 
more  hkely  he  has  prematurely  graduated 
therefrom.  He  feels  a  revulsion  from  all 
sorts  of  religious  emotionalism  and  you 
cannot  touch  him  with  a  year  of  prayer  meet- 
ings, even  of  the  quiet,  modern  type. 

Yet  the  young  man  is  deeply  earnest  at 
this  period,  even  though  he  may  try  to  con- 
ceal it  sometimes  by  feigned  frivolity.  For 
this  period  is  especially  the  period  of  the 
battle  ro3^al  of  life,  the  struggle  for  char- 
acter, that  subtle  conflict  between  the  good 
and  evil  forces  incarnate  in  the  young  man's 
person,  a  conflict  perhaps  which  no  one 
knows  but  himself  and  his  God. 

In  this  struggle  for  character  the  boy 
needs  friendship,  constant,  sympathetic,  dis- 
cerning friendship ;  but  above  all,  he  must  be 
on  friendly  terms  with  Jesus  Christ.  Give 
him  the  great  protection  of  the  Christ  love, 
the  high  incentive  of  the  Christ  ideals,  the 
mighty  impulse  of  the  Christian  purpose,  the 
Christ  loyalty — with  the  brotherly  comrade- 
ship of  the  Christian  Church ;  and  you  have 
armed  him  with  all  the  panoply  of  God.  He 
will  win  his  fight.  He  will  win  in  the  struggle 
for  manliness. 


THE  BOY'S  RELIGION  269 

If  the  young  man  is  sound  at  the  core,  and 
he  usually  is,  he  honors  above  all  things  real 
nobility  of  character,  and  covets  genuine 
manliness.  He  instinctively  echoes  Presi- 
dent Hyde's  glowing  sentiment: 

"  A  creed  is  a  rod. 
And  a  crown  is  of  night; 
But  this  thing  is  God: 
To  be  man,  with  thy  might; 
To  stand  straight  in  the  strength  of  thy  spirit 
And  live  out  thy  life  as  the  light." 

The  young  man  is  usually  silent  about  it; 
but  he  has  his  own  ideas  on  religion,  and 
plenty  of  doubts  of  his  own  as  well.  He 
needs  a  rational  basis  for  his  life  creed,  and 
he  needs  it  soon;  or  he  never  will  get  it.  It 
must  be  proved  to  him,  in  some  natural  un- 
dogmatic  way  (or  better,  flashed  upon  his 
intuitions)  that  the  well-rounded  manhood 
which  he  covets,  needs  culture  on  the  spirit- 
ual side,  to  complete  its  symmetry.  In  short, 
he  needs,  not  the  effeminate  sort,  but  a  man's 
religion,  which  will  appeal  to  his  whole  man- 
hood. For  the  young  man  is  not  all  spirit. 
He  has  a  body  to  keep  strong  and  well,  and 
a  mind  to  discipline  and  develop.  These 
facts    are   evident   to   him    and   he   welcomes 


270  BOY  LIFE 

any  means  which  will  help  him  in  his  life 
problem.  He  needs  the  right  hand  of  fellow- 
ship, the  heart  of  good  friendship  and  the 
moral  backbone  of  upright  comradeship. 
These  things,  with  God's  Spirit  to  help,  will 
save  him,  and  he  will  pass  through  this  try- 
ing period  unscathed,  and  will  enter  later 
adolescence  wiser  and  stronger  and  a  happier 
man. 

The  closing  period  of  youth  I  shall  con- 
sider briefly.  If  the  religious  life  has  been 
normal  in  the  earlier  periods,  it  will  be  easy 
and  natural  now.  If  it  has  been  neglected 
or  belated,  it  will  be  difficult  now.  Professor 
Home  suggests  the  word  "Independence" 
as  the  characteristic  key-word  for  this  age, 
from  eighteen  to  twenty-four  years.  I  would 
also  add  the  word  "Cooperation."  It  is  an 
age  of  independence,  and  also  of  the  begin- 
nings of  splendid  social  cooperation.  Athe- 
istic or  sceptical  tendencies  often  appear, 
but  are  usually  of  short  duration,  and  the 
young  man  who  thinks  his  way  through 
independently  finds  surer  ground  for  faith 
than  ever.  At  all  events,  he  must  have  free- 
dom for  independent  thinking.  He  resents 
the  tyranny  of  religious  tradition.  The 
college    man    is    the    born    Protestant.       He 


THE  BOY'S  RELIGION  271 

insists  on  the  regal  rights  of  his  God-given 
reason,  and  he  searches  fearlessly  for  truth. 
He  worships  reality,  sincerity,  and  will 
brook  no  sham,  pretense  or  cant.  Empty 
forms  and  professions,  however  pious,  he 
will  have  none  of.  He  demands  honesty  and 
reality  in  faith  and  life.  His  doubts  some- 
times are  serious,  and  there  are  doubts  that 
are  the  fruit  of  sin ;  but  usually  they  are  not 
symptoms  of  decay,  but  the  growing  pains 
of  a  larger,  stronger  faith,  in  which  his 
tested  soul  ultimately  finds  rest  and  satis- 
faction. 

There  is  a  solemnity  and  a  grandeur  to 
me  in  the  fearless  search  for  truth  which 
impels  our  college  man  to  scan  heaven  and 
earth  relentlessly  for  facts,  and  which  finally 
gives  him  the  spiritual  power  of  a  real  faith, 
a  tested  faith,  which  leads  Godward  with 
unerring  flight,  as  it  seems  to  say: 

"  Higher,   my  soul,  higher ! 
Into  the  night.  Into  the  black  night; 
Beyond  where  the  eagle  soars  strong  to  the  sun. 
Naught  hast  thou  if  only  earth's  stars  be  won. 
Earth  stars  are  won, 

Beyond  where  God's  angels  stand  silent  in  light. 
Higher,   my  soul,  higher ! 
Into  the  light!     Straight  into  God's  light." 


272  BOY  LIFE 

The  right  of  independent  thinking,  the 
college  boy  must  have.  Freedom  is  the 
atmosphere  in  which  his  real  faith  must 
grow.  But  his  religion  must  grow  strong 
through  exercise.  Some  one  has  said  of 
German  university  students,  that  about  one 
third  go  to  the  de\'il,  another  third  break 
down  under  the  strain  of  life,  and  the  remain- 
ing third  govern  Europe.  Surely  the  per- 
centage of  college  waste  product  is  not  so 
great  in  this  country.  And  the  significant 
thing  is  the  college  boy's  capacity  for  coop- 
eration. He  covets  power,  not  merely  to 
lead,  but  to  serve.  With  every  year  that 
passes  there  is  a  rising  tide  of  earnestness 
in  our  college  youth  in  America,  which  impels 
them  to  apply  their  religion  helpfully  in 
social  service.  The  best  way  to  get  rid  of 
doubts  is  not  merely  to  think  them  through, 
but  better,  to  work  them  off.  Instinctively, 
the  college  boy  seems  to  feel  he  must  make 
his  religion  practical — and  some  of  his 
doubts  vanish  from  neglect !  He  finds  stand- 
ing ground  for  his  own  faith,  by  lashing 
together  a  few  planks  for  a  raft,  on  which 
to  save  some  other  fellow.  And  faith  grows 
strong  with  testing. 

Our    college    Christian    Associations    are 


THE  BOY'S  RELIGION  273 

paying  less  attention  to  the  merely  oral 
expression  of  personal  piety,  but  in  a  great 
variety  of  ways  are  proving  their  vital  reli- 
gion by  applying  it  to  human  needs  around 
them.  It  is  a  natural  step  toward  the  nor- 
mal religion  of  adult  manhood  today,  the 
religion  of  the  mature  life,  a  religion  which 
is  not  metaphysical  nor  introspective,  but  the 
practical  helpful  religion  of  Applied  Chris- 
tianity. It  is  the  age  of  the  Social  Gospel. 
The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  coming  to  its 
own.  Men  are  broadening  their  gospel  and 
including  in  it  not  merely  good  news  for  the 
soul,  but  good  news  for  the  race;  the  good 
news  which  not  only  saves  a  man  from  sin, 
but  saves  men  from  suffering  and  ignorance 
and  every  moral  and  physical  ill.  It  is 
the  gospel  of  clean  streets  and  homes  as  well 
as  clean  hearts ;  the  gospel  of  redeemed 
cities  as  well  as  the  Heavenly  City  for  the 
Redeemed;  the  gospel  of  salvation,  of  health 
for  the  soul ;  but  none  the  less  the  new  gospel 
of  health  for  body  and  for  mind,  with  its 
war  against  tuberculosis,  its  fresh-air  homes, 
its  outdoor  schools,  its  hospital  ships  in  the 
harbors,  its  city  parks  right  in  the  slums — 
breathing  spaces  for  the  wornout  and  the 
aged,    and    playgrounds    for    cheated    chil- 


274  BOY  LIFE 

dren ;  tlie  gospel  of  schools  instead  of  spin- 
ning rooms,  of  homes  instead  of  sweat  shops ; 
in  short,  the  gospel  of  real  brotherliness  as 
well  as  fatherhood  and  sonship.  Such  a 
gospel,  a  broadly  social  gospel,  touching  life 
at  a  thousand  gleaming  points  today,  is  the 
religion  of  our  full-blooded  American  man- 
hood, yes,  and  our  intelUgent,  sympathetic 
womanhood,  organized  in  her  countless  wel- 
fare clubs.  Into  such  a  practical  religion 
of  humanity  the  college  boy  is  growing,  with 
his  love  for  freedom  and  his  genius  for  coop- 
eration. Religiously  now,  the  boy  has 
become  a  man. 

Tlie  child,  wending  his  way  through  the 
mazes  of  life,  has  in  each  year,  we  trust, 
found  a  religion  of  his  own ;  a  faith  fitted  to 
his  needs,  developed  through  his  own  expe- 
riences, appropriate  to  his  partial  knowl- 
edge and  his  imperfect  vision,  but  finally 
emerging  in  the  full-orbed  rehgion  of  man- 
hood. St.  Paul's  words  apply  best  of  all 
to  the  growing  religion  of  a  normal  life: 
"■WHien  I  was  a  child,  I  spake  as  a  child,  I 
felt,  I  understood  as  a  child,  I  thought  as  a 
child;  now  that  I  am  become  a  man,  I  have 
put  away  childish  things.  For  now  we  see 
in  a  minor,  darkly;  but  then  face  to  face; 


THE  BOY'S  RELIGION  275 

now  I  know  in  part ;  but  then  shall  I  know 
fully,  even  as  also  I  was  fully  known.  But 
now  abideth  (the  three  great  principles  of 
true  religion)  faith,  hope,  love,  these  three; 
and  the  greatest  of  these  is  love." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  BOY'S  HOME 

This  chapter  touches  the  spot  of  the  most 
serious  weakness  and  the  finest  possibilities 
in  the  whole  range  of  the  boy  problem:  the 
Home,  the  inner  social  environment  where 
the  boy's  character  is  initially  made  or 
ruined.  Other  things  are  important;  this 
is  all  important.  Other  influences  are 
mighty ;  but  the  strong,  splendid  home  is 
normally  invincible  in  the  making  of  char- 
acter. If  the  club  or  gang  is  evil,  something 
is  lost ;  if  the  Y.  INI.  C.  A.  is  missing  or  the 
public  school  defective,  much  is  lost;  if  the 
church  is  weak  and  impotent,  because  not 
virile,  still  more  is  lost ;  but  if  the  home  is 
wrong,  the  boy  is  lost.  That  is,  this  is  the 
rule;  but  all  rigid  formulas  fail  in  Boyville, 
and  a  lost  boy  is  simply  a  boy  not  yet  found ; 
and  a  splendid  host  are  hunting  for  him, 
following  the  blazed  trail  of  the  Master  of 
Men,  that  Saviour-Shepherd  who  never  quits 
his  wandering-boy  quest. 

We  all  doubtless  share  the  faith  of  the 
hopeful   boy   lover   that   there   is   some   way 


278  BOY  LIFE 

to  find  and  save  every  sane  boy.  A  really 
incorrigible  boy  is  abnormal,  a  case  for  the 
doctor  or  the  surgeon  or  the  alienist — not 
the  minister.  But  we  shall  all  readily  agree, 
and  the  longer  we  have  worked  with  boys  the 
more  heartily  we  shall  agree,  that  Professor 
Peabodj^  is  right  in  his  assertion  that  a  boys' 
club  is  in  most  respects  only  a  substitute  for 
the  perfect  home,  and  that  practically  all 
other  agencies  for  boy  betterment  are  merely 
supplementary  to  the  home. 

As  Dr.  Peabody  says :  "A  good  boy  is 
the  natural  product  of  a  good  home ;  and  all 
the  efforts  of  philanthropy  to  make  boys 
better  are  consciously  imperfect  substitutes 
for  the  natural  influences  of  a  healthy- 
minded  home.  The  great  and  overshadow- 
ing peril  of  a  boy's  life  is  not,  as  many  sup- 
pose, his  bad  companions,  or  his  bad  books, 
or  his  bad  habits ;  it  is  the  peril  of  homeless- 
ness.  I  do  not  mean  mere  homelessness, 
ha\-ing  no  bed  or  room  which  can  be  called 
his  own,  but  that  homelessness  which  may 
exist  even  in  luxurious  houses — the  isolation 
of  the  boy's  soul,  the  lack  of  any  one  to 
listen  to  him,  the  loss  of  roots  to  hold  him  to 
his  place  and  make  him  grow.  This  is  what 
drives   the   boy   into   the   arms   of   evil,   and 


THE  BOY'S  HOME  279 

makes  the  street  his  home  and  the  gang  his 
family,  or  else  drives  him  in  upon  himself, 
into  uncommunicated  imaginings  and  fever- 
ish desires.  It  is  the  modern  story  of  the 
man  whose  house  was  empty,  and  precisely 
because  it  was  empty,  there  entered  seven 
devils  to  keep  him  company.  If  there  is  one 
thing  which  a  boy  cannot  bear,  it  is  himself. 
He  is  by  nature  a  gregarious  animal,  and  if 
the  group  which  nature  gives  him  is  denied, 
then  he  gives  himself  to  any  group  which 
may  solicit  him.  A  boy,  like  all  things  in 
nature,  abhors  a  vacuum ;  and  if  his  home 
is  a  vacuum  of  lovelessness  and  homelessness, 
then  he  abhors  his  home." 

Homeless  boys  and  boyless  homes  both 
seem  to  be  increasing.  But  whatever  the 
home,  or  the  apology  for  a  home,  back  to 
that  home  we  must  go  to  learn  the  boy. 
There  we  may  find  the  straightest  clue  to  the 
perplexing  riddle  of  his  temperament  and 
character,  the  mazy  puzzle  of  his  tastes, 
talents,  feelings,  ambitions,  inherited  or 
developed — or  the  lack  of  these.  Our  social 
and  religious  efforts  for  the  boy  are  apt  to 
be  quite  futile  unless  we  get  some  cooperation 
from  the  home.  And  conversely  the  home 
which  is  at  all  abnormal  needs  our  help.     It 


280  BOY  LIFE 

is  surely  time  that  all  the  great  agencies  for 
boy-saving  got  together  in  the  closest  kind 
of  way.  Aimless,  independent  effort  is  a 
costly  waste  and  always  a  partial  failure. 

I  think  it  is  fair  to  claim,  however,  that 
the  failure  to  cooperate  has  usually  been 
due  to  the  carelessness  of  parents.  In  the 
wild  rush  of  modern  living,  parents  have 
abdicated  their  responsibihty.  They  have 
surrendered  to  the  church,  the  school,  the 
Sunday-school,  the  Christian  Association 
the  full  care  of  the  moral,  religious,  intel- 
lectual and  social  welfare  of  the  boy.  And 
these  institutions  are  staggering  along 
bravely  but  rather  helplessly  under  the 
burden.  It  is  hard  on  them,  and  harder  on 
the  boy.  American  boys  are  suffering  from 
over  much  institutionalizing.  Just  as  they 
are  now  barbered  and  tailored  and  shod  and 
doctored  by  outside  experts — in  the  home- 
spun days  all  these  wants  were  attended  to 
at  home — so  also  the  boys  are  schooled  and 
churched  and  exercised  and  danced,  and 
even  manually  trained,  by  outside  agencies, 
to  the  joy  and  relief  of  a  certain  kind  of 
parents.  They  are  glad  to  avoid  a  respon- 
sibility which  they  feel  incapable  of  sharing. 
For  often  the  boy  knows  more  algebra  than 


THE  BOY'S  HOME  281 

liis  mother  and  more  religion  than  his  father, 
if  not  more  worldly  wisdom  than  both.  But 
the  noblest  church  and  church-school  can 
never  furnish  the  boy  that  choicest  religion 
of  the  home  where  the  father  is  priest.  "The 
-father  was  God's  first  priest." 

Thousands  of  conscientious  fathers  and 
mothers  realize  the  seriousness  of  their  boy 
problem  and  are  doing  their  utmost  to  save 
their  boys,  but  against  great  odds.  We 
shall  treat  our  topic  .most  intelligently  if 
we  take  time  briefly  to  suggest  some  of  the 
difficulties  confronting  them,  as  they  face 
this  greatest  task,  their  duty  to  their  boys. 

1.  The  simple  fact  that  they  are  of  an 
older  generation  is  a  handicap.  The  diff'er- 
ence  in  age  between  father  and  son  naturally 
widens  the  gap,  usually  proportionately, 
though  not  always.  Not  merely  the  age, 
but  what  it  connotes,  makes  the  diff'erence; 
the  different  kind  of  bringing  up,  the  diff^er- 
ent  social  environment,  the  diff'erent  world- 
generation  with  all  its  altered  customs, 
standards  and  ideals.  All  these  things 
widen  the  gulf  which  must  be  bridged  to 
bring  father  and  son  together  in  sympathy 
and  view-point. 

2.  The  greater  difficulty  is  the  fact  that 


282  BOY  LIFE 

the  father,  in  growing  older,  has  lost  his 
youth,  or  rather,  his  youthfulness.  He  has 
forgotten  how  it  seemed  to  be  a  boy.  The 
interests  which  absorbed  him  in  his  boyhood 
have  been  submerged  in  the  colder  tides  of 
later  life.  The  idealism,  maybe,  and  the 
hero  worship,  and  the  noble  altruism  of  ado- 
lescent daj's  have  been  lost  in  the  glare  of 
life's  realism.  Perhaps  the  iconoclastic  days 
have  come,  the  saddest  in  human  life. 
Imagination  is  dormant,  memory  is  ineffect- 
ive, dim  and  fickle ;  boyish  dreams  and  youth- 
ful visions,  forgotten.  And  the  feelings,  the 
surest  criterion  of  age,  the  only  real  test 
of  age,  are  greath'  changed.  The  finer 
emotions  and  the  naive  enthusiasms,  the  man 
has  lost  forever ;  and  with  these  his  lost 
youth.  It  is  one  of  the  needless  tragedies 
of  life  that  men  thus  lose  their  youthful  joy, 
the  zest  for  living,  and  with  it  the  real  sym- 
pathy of  their  own  boys,  "\\niat  business 
has  any  boy's  father  a-growing  old,  except 
in  years  and  baldness — which  don't  count! 
3.  The  father  is  often  handicapped  by 
his  failure  to  understand  his  boy.  Were  his 
memory  of  his  own  boyhood  efficient,  he  could 
interpret  that  boy  in  the  light  of  his  own 
boyhood    and    understand    his    strangeness ; 


THE  BOY'S  HOME  283 

but  often  the  mother's  intuition  gets  her 
closer  to  the  boy's  heart.  Sometimes  the 
mysteries  of  the  boy-soul  are  too  subtle  for 
either  of  them  and  they  frankly  confess  they 
cannot  understand  the  boy.  How  often  we 
have  heard  this  confession  of  parental  de- 
feat: "Harry  is  such  a  peculiar  hoy;  I  canH 
understand  him."  And  in  the  bosom  of  the 
family  doubtless  the  queer  streak  is  traced 
back  to  some  scapegrace  uncle  who  dis- 
graced the  family  by  living  the  simple  life! 
4.  Not  to  multiply  these  reasons  for  the 
home  failure,  I  will  mention  just  one  other, 
a  type  of  a  number  of  very  concrete  sug- 
gestions which  might  be  given,  the  failure 
of  the  parents  to  know  where  the  boy  spends 
his  time.  The  fonder  the  parent,  the  more 
superficially  precise  the  home-life,  the  more 
of  course  the  boy  reacts  against  propriety 
and  seeks  the  refreshing  gales  of  the  uncon- 
ventional. Particularly  if  the  domestic  dis- 
cipline is  of  the  feminine  order,  the  young 
chap,  fearing  like  creeping  paralysis  his  own 
ingrowing  effeminacy,  flees  to  the  alley  where 
he  can  shed  kid  gloves,  hide  his  white  necktie 
in  his  pocket  and  assert  his  manhood.  He 
comes  home  finally,  not  in  the  odor  of 
sanctity,  with  raiment  sadly  mussed,  and  fists 


284  BOY  LIFE 

still  clenched ;  but  there  is  glee  in  his  face  and 
oxygen  in  his  lungs.  Mother  fumes  and 
fusses.  The  boy  naturally  lies — and  soon 
lies  naturally.  No  one  really  knows  where 
he  has  spent  the  day.  His  father  is  too  busy 
to  go  and  see. 

This  is  a  very  common  symptom  in  the 
small  boy  problem.  We  are  all  familiar  with 
it.  It  is  an  almost  inevitable  stage,  fraught 
with  grave  danger;  but  it  may  prove  to  be 
nothing  more  serious  than  the  boy's  declara- 
tion of  independence,  the  birth  of  his  manli- 
ness— if  promptly  taken  in  hand  by  a  tactful 
father,  or  a  brave  and  trusted  mother. 

A  certain  wise  mother,  more  discerning 
than  her  husband,  discovered  that  her  three 
small  boys  were  slipping  away  from  the  home 
influence  and  spending  much  of  their  time 
elsewhere.  They  would  do  all  their  studying 
before  supper,  then  hastily  steal  out  for  a 
long  evening  "with  the  other  boys."  They 
evaded  her  questions  with  unsatisfactory 
explanations.  They  began  to  grow  pale  and 
listless  in  appearance ;  did  discreditable  work 
at  school  and  became  more  and  more  unman- 
ageable, until  the  mother  was  in  despair. 
One  night  she  followed  the  boys,  and  was 
appalled  to   find  them,  with  a  few   selected 


THE  BOY'S  HOME  285 

cronies,  in  the  back  room  of  a  neighboring 
saloon  listening  to  the  exciting  tales  of  a 
maudlin  old  soldier  who  shared  with  them 
his  beer  in  return  for  their  pocket  money. 
Prompt  action  and  subsequent  tactfulness 
saved  the  boys. 

In  the  light  of  these  and  similar  difficulties 
with  which  even  conscientious  parents  are 
contending,  how  shall  the  boy  be  saved? 
Nearly  all  failure  in  life  is  a  failure  in 
adjustment.  Given  right  relations  between 
the  members  of  the  home  group  and  we  need 
not  worry  for  the  boy. 

The  principles  involved  in  this  vital  ques- 
tion can  only  be  discovered  as  we  analyze 
and  define  the  terms,  the  boy's  normal  home 
relationships. 

1.  Without  question  the  first  essential  is 
recognized  parental  responsibility.  If  the 
head  of  the  household  shirks,  the  boy  must 
be  expected  to.  The  first  essential  then  is  to 
reload  the  father  with  the  responsibility  he 
has  been  shouldering  on  to  others  ever  since 
Sunday-schools  and  Christian  Associations 
and  similar  institutions  were  first  invented. 
Busy  men  must  learn  that  they  cannot  hire 
the  duties  of  fatherhood  done  by  proxy.  If 
a  man  has  brought  a  boy  into  this  world,  he 


286  BOY  LIFE 

must  stand  by  that  boy.  We  must  not  allow 
him  to  think  that  he  can  farm  out  to  us  his 
duty  to  that  boy — not  for  one  hundred  dol- 
lars a  year  pew  rent,  or  ten  dollars  sustain- 
ing membership  fee !  Perhaps  our  financial 
pressure  has  led  us  into  temptation,  in  the 
past ;  but  we  should  certainly  not  accept 
his  money,  on  even  the  tacit  understanding 
that  we  as  churches  or  colleges  or  Christian 
Associations  can  do  the  father's  duty  by  the 
boy.  The  in  loco  parentis  theory  long  since 
proved  a  pitiable  failure.  We  can  do  some 
things  the  father  cannot  do  for  the  boy ;  but 
he  only  can  do  for  that  boy  what  the  boy 
most  needs.  We  must  make  him  under- 
stand it,  and  emphasize  it  until  his  business, 
his  club,  his  lodge  and  fraternal  order  all 
will  seem  petty  to  him  compared  to  saving 
his  hoy. 

I  believe  profoundly  that  most  fathers  can 
be  counted  on  to  respond  to  this  appeal. 
Most  men  are  at  heart  idealists.  Dr.  Abbott 
is  right:  "It  is  one  of  the  divine  mysteries 
of  man's  life  in  this  world,  that  while  he  is 
always  dealing  with  material  things,  strug- 
gling for  them,  storing  them  up,  and  count- 
ing himself  rich  or  poor  according  to  his 
possessions,  he  is   ready   at  any  moment  to 


THE  BOY'S  HOME  287 

hold  them  as  dust  in  the  balances,  if  the  real 
things  he  carries  in  his  heart  are  in  any 
peril.  He  will  open  the  dikes  and  destroy 
the  country  he  has  worked  for  centuries  to 
create,  rather  than  to  suffer  her  tyrant 
enemies  to  possess  her.  He  will  sacrifice 
everything  he  has  accumulated  in  a  lifetime 
for  the  sake  of  wife  or  child.  Immersed  in 
materialism,  man  is  always  at  heart  an 
idealist.  Putting  his  strength  into  the 
mastery  of  things,  he  is  always  finding  his 
real  life  in  ideas,  emotions,  convictions.  He 
works  with  his  body,  but  he  lives  in  his  soul." 
A\Tien  you  once  get  the  modern  boy's  father 
to  stop  and  think,  he  readily  responds  to 
every  reasonable  appeal,  and  will  do  abso- 
lutely anything  for  the  boy's  sake.  When 
the  father  reaches  the  point  of  self-sacrifice, 
the  boy  is  probably  safe. 

2.  A  primary  essential  in  normal  home 
relationships  is  the  mutual  reverence  for  per- 
sonality. There  is  a  golden  mean  doubtless 
between  the  suppression  of  the  child  in  the 
old  Puritan  home,  where  he  was  overwhelmed 
by  the  sense  of  his  littleness,  and  the  opposite 
fashion  today,  when  occasionally  the  lone 
child  in  the  home  is  made  an  insufferable 
egotist  by  the  prominence  given  him  (oftener 


288  BOY  LIFE 

licr!)  on  all  occasions,  and  it  is  quite  appar- 
ent that  the  youngster  rules  the  household. 

The  normal  relation  makes  the  child 
neither  the  tyrant  nor  the  abject  slave,  but 
a  person  with  both  rights  and  duties,  and 
because  a  person,  therefore  worthy  of  respect. 
A  home  is  not  merely  a  barracks  where  the 
parent  commands  and  the  child  obeys.  This 
mediaeval  conception  must  yield  to  the  nobler 
ideal  that  the  great  purpose  of  the  home  is 
the  sharing  of  life.  Mutual  self-giving  for 
mutual  good  is  the  great  home  privilege. 
As  the  wisest  interpreters  of  this  mutual  wel- 
fare of  the  home  group,  the  parents  deserve 
obedience ;  but  only  as  they  respect  the  child's 
personality  in  seeking  his  obedience.  For 
among  the  first  of  children's  rights  is  the 
simple  human  right  to  be  treated  as  a 
person. 

I  suspect  that  here  begins  the  trouble  in 
many  a  home.  A  rough  unappreciative 
father  insults  his  boy's  self-respect.  His 
blunt  command  assumes  the  rig-ht  to  domi- 
nate.  He  is  inconsiderate.  Perhaps  he  is 
unreasonable.  The  boy  rebels;  or  worse, 
he  sullenly  acquiesces  and  outwardly  obeys. 
But  that  boy's  sensitive  nature  is  deeply 
scarred,    and    his    pride    wounded,    perhaps 


THE  BOY'S  HOME  289 

Irreparably.  As  soon  as  he  dares,  he  asserts 
his  independence  of  that  father.  Probably 
he  quits  the  house  forever.  If  the  father  is 
wise  enough  to  discover  his  error  before  it  is 
too  late,  he  will  make  atonement  at  any  cost, 
to  prove  his  respect  for  that  boy's  eternal 
soul,  and  will  thus  regain  the  boy's  love  and 
comradeship.  Keenly  do  I  recall  how  a 
father  of  my  acquaintance  roughly  trampled 
upon  the  feelings  of  his  headstrong  boy  and 
treated  him  with  needless  insolence.  The 
boy  left  home,  vowing  never  to  return  till  he 
was  of  age.  In  growing  bitterness  of  spirit 
that  father,  whose  temper  was  the  worst  I 
ever  knew,  gradually  developed  emotional 
insanit}',  until  one  night  in  a  burst  of  rage, 
a  veritable  brain  storm,  he  drowned  himself 
in  the  river.  Then  the  boy  came  home  to  his 
mother,  securing  an  honorable  discharge 
from  the  United  States  Army,  in  which  he 
had  enlisted. 

The  attempt  to  force,  to  drive,  to  coerce, 
to  compel  a  boy's  obedience  against  his  judg- 
ment and  his  will,  is  to  ruin  the  peace  of  the 
home,  and  makes  a  ghastly  chasm  between 
father  and  son.  To  reverence  the  boy's 
person  by  treating  him  considerately  and 
consulting  liim   when   his   opinion   is   of   the 


290  BOY  LIFE 

slightest  value,  and  taking  him  into  the 
family  councils  whenever  possible,  is  to  teach 
him  self-respect,  a  boy's  moral  capital,  till 
he  discovers  the  worth  of  his  own  growing 
manhood.  Most  boys  will  live  up  to  your 
estimate  of  them.  Treat  them  contemptu- 
ously, they  become  contemptible.  Trust 
them  and  they  become  trustworthy.  Recog- 
nize their  growing  manliness  and  you 
multiply  it. 

One  great  corollary  of  this  important  rule 
is  this.  How  else  can  a  father  teach  his  boy 
to  reverence  his  own  person,  than  by  treating 
him  with  respect  because  he  is  a  person  .f* 
Thus  are  self-respecting  boys  developed  and 
only  self-respecting  boys  make  respectable 
citizens. 

3.  Next  to  mutual  respect  comes  mutual 
understanding  and  sympathy  between  father 
and  son.  This  means  the  boy  and  his  father 
must  get  acquainted,  when  often  they  are 
strangers. 

There  is  a  pathos  in  the  very  architecture 
of  the  old  Nantucket  mansions.  On  the  roof 
you  still  may  see  the  little  fence  enclosed 
outlook  where  the  women  and  the  children 
used  to  watch  for  the  signs  of  returning  sail, 
far  out  to  sea,  back  in  the  rigorous  days  of 


THE  BOY'S  HOME  291 

the  old  whaling  industry ;  when  a  man  would 
be  absent  from  home  for  a  three  years' 
voyage,  and  would  often  on  his  return  find 
a  child  missing  or  perchance  a  wife — and 
sometimes  a  new  baby,  old  enough  to  talk 
with  him.  In  these  days  of  industrial  strain 
and  suburban  city  life,  thousands  of  fathers 
seldom  see  their  infant  children  except  when 
they  are  asleep.  All  too  frequently  the  habit 
is  continued  through  the  years,  and  the  rear- 
ing of  the  boys  is  left  to  the  women  and  older 
children. 

There's  a  hand-writing  on  the  wall  for 
such  a  father.  Whatever  be  the  reason  for 
his  unfatherly  neglect,  if  he  does  not  take  the 
trouble  to  get  acquainted  with  his  boy  he 
must  not  be  surprised  to  find  some  day  that 
that  boy  cares  little  for  him ;  that  he  appre- 
ciates him  merely  for  what  he  is  worth  to 
him  in  food  and  clothing.  The  home  is  for 
the  sharing  of  life;  that  father  has  been  a 
parental  bankrupt,  compromising  in  nig- 
gardly fashion  merely  on  food  and  raiment 
and  a  place  of  shelter.  Professor  Coe  says 
very  truly :  "If  a  choice  must  be  made 
between  living  with  one's  children  and  any 
competing  interest,  whether  the  increase  of 
wealth,  social  enjoyments,  even  philanthropic 


292  BOY  LIFE 

and  religious  activities,  there  should  be  no 
hesitation  in  choosing  in  favor  of  one's  own 
children." 

Because  so  many  fathers  prefer  business 
or  selfish  pleasure  to  the  comradeship  of  the 
boy  at  home,  many  a  boy's  life  is  blighted. 
On  the  other  hand,  manj'  a  boy  has  found  at 
home  the  best  chum  a  boy  could  have,  in  the 
person  of  his  father,  and  together  they  think 
and  plan  and  frolic  and  chum,  sharing  each 
other's  life.  Thus  the  father  learns  the 
secret  of  perennial  youth  and  lives  again  in 
the  hopes  and  struggles  of  liis  boy.  And  the 
growing  boy,  sharing  his  deepest  confidences 
with  the  father-chum,  learns  the  secret  of 
life's  most  sacred  messages  and  grows  strong 
in  a  holy  comradeship.  You  may  bank  on 
such  a  boy.  Let  him  loose  in  the  street ;  the 
gang  won't  hurt  him.  Send  him  to  the 
public  school ;  home  he  comes  unscathed,  for 
his  father  is  his  confidant,  his  trusted  adviser, 
with  whom  he  shares  unreservedly  all  the 
day's  experiences.  That  boy  is  immune. 
He  is  safe ;  let  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the 
devil  do  their  worst. 

Though  tliis  ideal  is  rarely  discovered  in 
its  completeness ;  rapidly,  I  believe,  American 
fathers  are  waking  up  to  see  that  they  must 


THE  BOY'S  HOME  293 

chum  with  their  boys,  whatever  be  the  cost. 
W'hy,  the  Big  Brother  Movement  alone  has 
done  much  to  open  the  eyes  of  fathers  to  this 
fact,  that  they  have  been  shirking.  Every 
father  knows  that  the  natural  Big  Brother 
to  every  boy  is  his  own  father,  and  it  shames 
him  into  decency  to  see  another  man,  for  the 
boy's  sake,  offering  to  fill  his  vacant  place, 
to  save  that  boy. 

Yet  the  father  is  often  unable  to  under- 
stand the  boy.  He  has  the  right  disposition, 
desires  to  help  the  boy  and  do  the  right  thing 
by  him ;  but  he  is  untrained,  handicapped  in 
various  ways,  such  as  I  have  previously 
mentioned.  Here  the  trained  boy  worker  can 
surely  help  the  father.  And  here  the  devel- 
oping science  of  child  study  and  the  psychol- 
ogy of  adolescence  renders  a  great  service. 

Parenthood  is  a  profession,  perhaps  the 
noblest  profession.  It  is  a  life  calling.  It 
is  a  fine  art ;  and  it  is  based  upon  a  genuine 
science.  There  is,  therefore,  a  psychology 
of  fatherhood,  and  the  rudiments  of  it  every 
boy's  father  should  know.  We  are  coming 
to  recognize  that  there  is  a  psychology  under- 
lying every  profession.  There  is  evidently  a 
psychological  basis  for  success  in  public 
speaking.     There    is    a    psychology    of    the 


294  BOY  LIFE 

ministry ;  also  of  the  law.  There  is  of  course 
a  psychology  of  teaching;  we  call  it  peda- 
gogy. There  is  a  new  name  for  the  psychol- 
ogy of  the  physician,  the  awkward  name 
psychotherapy.  There  is  a  very  shrewd  psy- 
chology underlying  mercantile  success ;  as 
taught  for  instance  by  the  Chicago  Sheldon 
School  for  Expert  Salesmanship.  I  beheve 
psychology  has  a  large  contribution  to  make 
also  to  the  profession  of  fatherhood. 

This  is  merely  saying  that  trained  boy 
workers  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  who  have  become 
familiar  with  the  modern  literature  on  ado- 
lescence should  share  this  technical  wisdom 
with  the  fathers,  as  well  as  practice  it  on  the 
boys.  Just  as  soon  as  fathers  of  boys  are 
aroused  to  see  that  the  whole  crux  of  this 
boy  problem  is  in  their  hands,  and  they 
discover  that  they  have  got  to  face  it  like 
men  and  shoulder  the  responsibility,  then  they 
will  be  willing  to  come  to  boy  experts  for 
advice  and  direction. 

There  is  much  Association  men  can  teach 
them  which  will  help  them  to  understand 
their  own  boys  and  the  special  treatment 
which  they  need  at  different  stages.  We 
examine  the  boy's  body  and  prescribe  certain 
physical  exercises   to  help  him   outgrow  his 


THE  BOY'S  HOME  295 

abnormalities.  Why  should  he  not  also  be 
given  psychic  tests  which  would  determine  liis 
mental  and  temperamental  deficiencies?  We 
have  made  very  tardily  the  discovery  that  a 
large  proportion  of  the  criminals  of  this 
country  are  simply  young  men  and  boys  of 
abnormal  mental  development.  I  am  con- 
fident that  sensible  psychic  treatment,  with 
perhaps  some  shght  surgical  attention,  early 
in  life,  might  have  corrected  very  much 
of  this  abnormality  and  developed  well-bal- 
anced, wholesome  minds  and  good  citizens. 
Whether  or  not  brain  surgery  for  klepto- 
mania, insanity  or  alcoholism  ever  becomes 
safe,  all  reasonable  precautions  should  be 
taken  in  boyhood  to  secure  normal  brain 
development  and  functioning.  The  great 
city  school  systems  are  already  recognizing 
this  need. 

But  to  avoid  debatable  ground,  and  to  give 
my  suggestions  in  merest  outline :  I  suggest 
that  earnest  parents  of  good  intelligence  can 
be  taught  to  discover  when  the  boy  is  defect- 
ive in  his  observation,  his  imagination  or  his 
memory,  and  how  to  treat  such  defects. 
They  can  learn  to  observe  how  his  mind 
works,  whether  he  is  a  visualizer  or  an  audile, 
or  motor-minded,  etc. ;  and  the  clue  will  help 


296  BOY  LIFE 

them  to  understand  him  and  how  to  help 
liim.  They  can  be  taught  how  to  develop 
his  judgment  in  different  fields  to  make  him 
well-balanced,  and  to  help  him  to  think  for 
himself  and  form  reasonable  conclusions.  If 
the  boy  is  an  emotional  fellow,  volatile,  un- 
reliable or  subject  to  fits  of  anger,  then  the 
father  should  be  taught  how  to  help  him 
overcome  these  tendencies.  Conversely,  if 
the  boy  is  phlegmatic  and  passive,  the  father 
should  learn  the  secret  of  arousing  his  enthu- 
siasm and  stirring  his  feelings  of  loyalty, 
patriotism  and  sympathy.  He  should  be 
encouraged  to  lead  the  boy  out  of  the  egoism 
and  selfishness  inevitable  in  childhood,  into 
the  normal  altruism  and  kind-heartedness  of 
3'outh,  and  on  to  the  finer  ideals  and  nobler 
visions  and  deeper  sympathies  of  later  ado- 
lescence. If  the  boy  is  too  matter-of-fact 
and  commonplace,  and  his  sense  of  the  beau- 
tiful deficient,  this  should  be  stimulated,  to 
enrich  his  own  soul  and  develop  his  future 
liappiness,  his  very  capacity  for  happiness. 
Most  boys  will  find  their  way  to  this  through 
love  of  nature  and  appreciation  of  her 
beauties.  The  best  art  greatly  helps,  and  the 
removal  of  abominations  in  the  form  of  crude 


THE  BOY'S  HOME  297 

pictures  in  the  homes  is  certainly  a  kindness 
to  the  children. 

But  it  is  in  the  field  of  will  that  the  boy 
needs  most  attention  psychologically.  The 
enigma  of  misunderstood  boyhood  is  often 
solved  by  careful  study  of  the  contrasting 
t^'pes  of  children,  the  impulsive  boy  with  the 
precipitate  will  and  the  backward  child  with 
the  obstructed-will.  When  once  a  father  can 
locate  his  boy  under  one  or  the  other  and 
thoroughly  study  the  type,  he  may  under- 
stand why  the  boy  acts  so  queerly  and 
discover  the  special  treatment  he  needs  to 
make  him  normal. 

The  father  needs  to  know  something  of  the 
power  of  suggestion.  Though  if  he  is 
shrewd  and  tactful  he  has  already  intuitively 
found  his  way  to  the  secret  of  this  powerful 
agency.  Certainly  he  must  know  the  awful 
and  the  splendid  possibilities  of  the  law  of 
habit,  that  most  important  of  all  moral 
subjects.  The  father  should  be  taught  the 
different  kinds  of  habitual  decisions,  to  dis- 
cover how  he  may  pigeon-hole  his  boy's 
ordinary  choices  and  how  to  help  him  to 
develop  that  nobility  of  character  which 
comes  in  its  fulness  not  from  emotion,  or 
impulse,    but    from    the    regal    function    of 


298  BOY  LIFE 

conscious  choice.  Is  the  boy's  will  naturally 
reasonable,  drifting,  reckless,  convertible  or 
strenuous?  The  wise  father  will  find  out, 
and  profit  by  his  discovery  in  the  guidance 
and  particularly  in  the  religious  training 
of  his  boy.  And,  lastly,  the  father  should 
be  encouraged  to  discover  and  arouse  the 
boy's  native  interests,  the  secret  springs  of 
his  enthusiasms  and  his  truest  ambitions. 
When  these  are  identified,  the  formula  is 
discovered  by  which  many  of  the  boy's  life 
problems  can  be  worked  out  with  ease  and 
satisfaction ;  all  needless  factors  eliminated, 
the  surds  rationalized,  fractions  reduced  to 
a  common  denominator  and  "the  unknown 
quantities  in  his  personal  equation  reduced  to 
their  life  values.  The  boy's  interests,  his 
immediate  interests  and  his  ultimate  profound 
interests,  his  life  standards  and  holiest  ambi- 
tions, by  all  means  let  his  father  discover 
these  and  help  his  boy  develop  and  secure 
them,  and  lead  him  to  consecrate  them  in  the 
true  chivalry  of  Christian  knighthood,  seek- 
ing life's  holy  quest  of  worth  while  service  in 
the  Christ's  name. 

4.  When  we  have  helped  the  father  to 
understand  the  boy,  and  particularly  the 
boy's  life  interests,  the  next  thing  is  to  help 


THE  BOY'S  HOME  299 

him  keep  the  hoy  busy.  A  large  element  in 
normal  home  relationships  is  mutual  helpful- 
ness with  everybody  busy.  The  normal  home 
is  a  character  garden,  not  a  girl  factory,  nor 
a  boy  foundry,  but  a  garden  where  character 
grows.  It  can  only  grow  in  an  atmosphere 
of  happy  contentment.  The  normal  home  is 
a  place  where  the  boy  likes  to  be.  It  must 
therefore  be  made  attractive,  and  reasonably 
boylike.  Here  again  countless  homes  fail ; 
and  here  boy  workers,  experts  in  boy  lore,  can 
greatly  help  the  home. 

One  family,  not  wealthy  either,  fitted  up 
a  gymnasium  in  the  attic  to  keep  the  boys  at 
home — and  went  without  new  parlor  furni- 
ture. What  eminent  good  sense !  Many  wise 
parents  have  introduced  dark  rooms  for 
photographj^,  laboratory  rooms  for  chem- 
istrjj^,  work  rooms  for  carpentry,  "bug  rooms" 
for  natural  history,  even  mushrooms  in  the 
cellar  and  so  on  through  the  whole  fad 
chapter;  and  it  all  works  splendidly.  The 
boy  likes  his  home,  stays  at  home  and  brings 
his  friends  home.  What  if  accidents  do 
happen !  One  boy  of  my  intimate  acquaint- 
ance blew  out  the  kitchen  window  with  his 
home-made  gunpowder  and  located  a  new 
sort  of  torpedo  on  the  sore  spot  of  the  force 


300  BOY  LIFE 

pump,  just  when  the  servant  girl  was  ready 
to  be  frightened  nearly  to  hysterics;  and 
electrified  all  the  door  knobs  that  happened 
to  be  metal  and  shocked  his  father  into 
mysterious  chuckles  and  affectionate  near- 
profanity!  Never  mind.  Nobody  cared. 
It  helped  to  save  the  boy.  Explosions  were 
less  harmful  than  drunks  and  a  broken 
window  was  more  easily  mended  than  a  ruined 
boy.  The  same  boy  soon  made  his  own 
telescope,  and  was  the  first  to  discover  the 
arrival  of  the  sun  spots  and  informed  the  city 
of  40,000  people  all  about  them  in  an  original 
article  in  the  local  paper.  Keep  your  eye 
on  boys  hke  that.  They  may  need  watching, 
but  they'll  bear  watching. 

Happy  the  home  that  can  discover  the 
boy's  interests  and  keep  him  busy  and 
contented  at  home.  Particularly  happy  the 
home  where  the  boys  can  share  tlie  home 
responsibilities  and  duties.  In  modern  flat 
hfe  of  course  this  is  extremely  difficult,  and 
much  is  lost  thereby.  Doing  things  together 
in  the  household  with  mutual  concessions  and 
burden  bearing,  is  a  mighty  binder  togetlier 
of  hearts.  As  Professor  Starbuck  says :  "It 
is  the  rule,  not  only  outside  the  home  but 
within    it,    that    the    strongest    attachments 


THE  BOY'S  HOME  301 

spring  up  and  happiness  abounds  when 
people  are  losing  themselves  in  a  common 
task.  When  people  have  honestly  worked 
together,  notliing  can  separate  them."  The 
stronger  this  community  of  interest  is  felt, 
in  common  toil  or  even  hardship  and  suffer- 
ing, the  stronger  the  home  ties.  Some  people 
suggest  a  common  purse,  in  this  true  home 
commune,  with  a  ledger  account  with  each 
member  of  the  household ;  the  payment  of  the 
children  for  special  services,  with  the  assign- 
ment of  regular  tasks.  This  leads  to  my 
next  suggestion: 

5.  The  normal  home  relationship  is  one 
in  which  is  clearly  made  the  beginning  of 
social  adjustment,  which  is  the  great  under- 
lying problem  of  all  our  modern  life. 
Charity  is  not  the  only  thing  that  should 
begin  at  home.  About  everything  else  that 
is  good  should  begin  there  in  the  little  com- 
munity group  which  is  the  microcosm  of 
society  at  large.  Surely  here  if  ever  must  be 
acquired  the  "fine  art  of  getting  along  with 
people,"  and  this  social  adjustment  practice 
will  of  course  be  most  effective  and  thorough 
in  a  large  family  with  all  normal  relation- 
ships. Herein  is  the  special  advantage  of 
such  a  home.     Psychologists  are  urging  the 


302  BOY  LIFE 

adoption  of  children  in  homes  where  nature 
gives  but  one  or  two,  in  order  to  do  justice 
to  those  one  or  two.  Surely  to  learn  to  be 
a  comrade,  a  socius,  a  partner,  an  associate, 
is  one  of  the  important  lessons  which  the  boy 
should  learn  in  the  normal  home,  that  he  may 
early  plan  and  prepare  for  a  useful  life. 
This  doing  things  together  at  home  is  fine 
training  for  the  greater  teamwork  of  citizen- 
ship. 

The  special  religious  phase  of  this  topic 
is  yet  to  be  developed ;  but  this  chapter  would 
surely  be  incomplete  without  it.  No  home 
relationships  will  be  felt  to  be  quite  normal 
if  the  religious  life  is  given  no  place  therein. 
Dean  Bosworth  recently  remarked:  "I 
believe  we  are  on  the  eve  of  a  great  revival  of 
family  worship;  not  the  old  type  perhaps, 
formal  and  perfunctory,  but  simple,  brief, 
frank  and  natural.  It's  a  great  thing  for 
children  to  hear  their  father  pray."  The 
recent  men's  movement  in  the  great  churches 
of  the  country  seems  to  justify  this  prophecy. 
We  should  hail  it  with  eager  welcome  and 
encourage  it  with  all  our  power.  The  intelH- 
gent  direction  and  stimulation  of  the  habit 
of  family  worship  on  the  part  of  men's 
organizations   would   greatly   help.      Let   us 


THE  BOY'S  HOME  303 

not  return  to  the  formal  custom  of  the  past, 
when  a  dreary  ten  minutes  were  spent  on  the 
floor ;  every  member  of  the  household  turning 
his  back  to  all  the  rest.  Not  this;  from 
most  homes  it  is  gone  forever.  But  the  reli- 
gion which  is  not  a  separate  compartment  in 
life,  but  interfused  in  life,  a  holy  sentiment 
which  rises  to  expression  at  different  times 
and  in  different  ways ;  at  the  breakfast  table 
often  just  before  the  meal,  while  aU  repeat 
a  psalm  together,  or  a  few  words  from  the 
great  Master;  or  at  other  times  after  the 
more  leisurely  evening  meal,  when  the  burden 
of  the  day's  work  is  laid  aside  and  we  gather 
together  in  thankfulness  for  the  Father's 
blessing.  Often,  best  a  Httle  later,  when  the 
children  are  about  to  go  to  bed,  the  sacred 
hour  in  so  many  homes  when  all  are  drawn 
most  closely  to  each  other  after  the  frolic  on 
the  divan  or  the  eager  listening  in  the  big 
arm-chair  to  the  wonder  story  or  the  Gospel 
love  story.  Naturally  and  simply  then  come 
the  few  words  from  the  father  priest,  raised 
in  gratitude  to  the  unseen  member  of  the 
home,  the  Christ  whose  love  must  never  be 
forgotten. 

Were  I  to  reiterate   any  single  point   as 
in  need  of  special  emphasis,  it  would  be  the 


304  BOY  LIFE 

treatment  of  parenthood  as  a  profession, 
requiring  skill  and  training,  for  which  the 
new  ps3'chology  has  a  large  contribution  to 
make  and  In  which  the  trained  boy  worker 
may  be  of  profoundest  service;  and  through 
which  intelligent  cooperation  we  may  reason- 
ably expect  large  results  in  years  to  come. 
The  American  boy  that  shall  be,  must  be,  and 
by  the  grace  of  God  will  be,  a  cleaner, 
stronger,  happier  boy  and  a  more  symmetri- 
cally developed  man,  a  more  efficient  Chris- 
tian citizen,  than  are  we,  the  generaj:ion  of 
his  fathers. 

It  is  this  typical  American  boy  of  the 
future,  ves,  even  of  the  present  in  many  a 
home,  thank  God,  of  whom  Edwin  Markham 
sings,  and  to  whom  he  is  appealing  in  his 
stanza  "To  Young  America" : 

"  In  spite  of  the  stares  of  the  wise  and  the  world's 
derision, 
Dare  travel  the   star-blazed   road,  dare   follow   the 
Vision. 

"  It  breaks  as  a  hush  on  the  soul  in  the  wonder  of 
Youth, 
And   the  lyrical  dream   of  the  boy  is   the   kingly 
Truth. 

"  The  world  is  a  vapor,  and  only  the  Vision  is  real. 
Yes,  nothing  can  hold  against  heU  but  the  winged 
Ideal." 


INDEX 

Abbott    286 

Abbottsholme  School 230 

Adolescent  rites    259ff 

Adult  advisers  in  boys'  clubs   ....166,  221-9,  233,  292 

Altruism     184,  235,  259,  262,  287,  296 

Animistic  instinct,  The  247ff 

Arrested  development   158 

Atavism     52 

Baldwin    51,  251,  254 

Balliet 78 

Barbarism   62 

Barnes    255 

Big  Brother  Movement,  The   35,  235,  293 

Blanchard    52 

Bolton     52 

Bosworth   302 

Boy  leaders.  Types  of  236-9 

Boy  life  and  the  race  life 41fF 

Boy  saving  agencies  35 

Boy  waste    31,  278 

Boys'   Brigade    22T 

Boys'  Clubs  ..75,  116ff,  161ff,  169ff,  179,  185ff,  207, 

221  If,  278 

Boys'  work  at  home  300 

Boy's  world,  The   43,  201 

Breaking  the  will    89,  95,  288 

Brotherhood  of  David   162,  207 

Buck   78 

Bully,  The    93,  155,  159,  162,  201,  236 

Business  in  boy  life   126fif,  131,  141,  152 

By-laws  of  boy  leadership   221-39 


306  INDEX 

Captains  of  Ten 162 

Catechisms 341 

Chamberlain    45,  48,  52,  57,  72 

Child-like  races  and  boy  life  45 

Children  and  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven 255-7 

Christian  experience  of  boys  .  .85,  99,  105,  156,  159, 
191,   194,   197,  227,  242,  252ff,  256ff,  260,  264, 

268flP,  298 

Church  and  the  boy.  The 33,  35,  106,  168,  185, 

189,  191,  197,  218,  260,  266ff,  280,  302 

Cigaret  habit.  The   225 

Citizenship    27,  110,  208,  217 

Civics     214-8 

Coe    56,  75,  291 

College  boys    156,  191,  202,  219,  239,  271  ff 

Comradeship    101,  155,  180,  225,  292,  302 

Conversion     228,  242,  260,  264-6 

Crime,  Juvenile   32 

Culture  Epochs  theory.  The   54ff,  59,  121,  130, 

132,  142,  160,  211,  247,  252 

Dawson     251 

De  Laveleye   129 

Delayed  manliness    16,  83-4 

Discipline    88,  109,  198,  215,  283,  288 

Doubts     , 269-70,  272 

Drummond    52 

Duality  of  boyhood.  The  12,  82 

Economics  in  boy  life  „ 127,  141 

Ellis    73 

Emerson    53^  86 

Employed  boys    I57 

Environment,   Influence  of    ..58,  144,  157,  212,  232, 

215,  253 


INDEX  307 

Epochs  of  boyhood  and  youth   ..147-168  (and  chart) 

Epochs  of  child  life  64 

Evolution  and  God's  plan  49ff 

Feelings  of  youth,  The   282,  289,  296 

Ferraro    -  , 94 

Fickleness    13 

Fighting  instinct.  The   75,  78,  137-8,  229,  283 

Fiske,  John    51,  72 

Franchise,  The    209ff 

Forbush    57,  89,  112 

Fraternities    79,  175,  176,  179,  1831f 

Froebel    247 

Games  and  play  .71-2,  76,  79,  99,  150ff,  222,  226,  229 

Gangs,  Boys' 76,  lOl"^,  110,  112ff,  154-5,  158, 

159,  162,  174,  201,  216,  236 

George  Junior  Republic    35,  213 

Girls  and  the  boy  problem 187 

Girls'  clubs   117 

Government;  Stages  of  development 66,  154fiF 

Group  clubs  and  mass  clubs   169-191 

Gunckel    172 

Habit    71,  86,  94,  100,  225,  262,  297 

Hall    32,  46,  53,  180-2,  186,  190,  246,  247 

Haslett    251,  257,  259 

Hegel    56 

Herder   48 

Hero  worship   102,  155,  261 

Home,  The  boy's   277-304 

Honor    156,  202,  215 

Hoodlumism 108,  216 

Home   70,  92,  270 

Huart    74 

Hutchinson    62-4,  153 


308  INDEX 

Hyde    186,  269 

Ideals  in  hoy  life  237,  262 

Imagination    248ff,  250flF,  264,  279,  295 

Imitation    237 

Individuality    259,  263 

Ingenuity    222,  234 

Instincts    55,  69-86,  150ff,  246,  263 

Interests    76,  116,  124,  143,  ISOflF,  186,  222,  231, 

235,  257,  282,  298,  299ff 

Jcnks   30 

Johnson    llOff,  139,  141 

Justice  among  boys    124,  133,  137,  139 fF 

Keeping  the  boy  busy   299 

Knights  of  King  Arthur  164,  177,  190,  207 

Knowlson    225 

I^anguage  making  48 

Latent   manliness    34 

Law  making  among  boys   132,  135 

Leadership   28,  104,  157,  163,  202,  221-39,  229, 

230flF 

Lessing    56 

Leverage,  The  law  of  the 201,  233 

I^ombroso    47 

Longfellow   262,  264 

Maine    123,  126 

Manliness    17,  87-106,  200,  219,  269,  274 

Mannishness    17,  239 

Manual   training    226 

Markham 304 

McDonogh   School,   The 119flf,  148,  167 

Mental  defects   295 

Moreland    119 

Morgan's  race  epochs  , 61 


INDEX  309 

Mosso 55 

Myth-making    251 

Nature  worship   249 

Obstructed  will,  The   92,  98,  261 

Parenthood,  a  profession  293,  304 

Peabody    2T8 

Personality  and  boy  leadership 163,  175,  206,  227 

Personality,  Reverence  for 287 

Personal  loyalty    102,  155,  209,  227,  261 

Phear 122 

Phi  Alpha  Pi   167,  176,  184 

Pilgrim   Fraternity    167,  176 

Politics  in  boy  life 25,  131,  136,  161,  208,  213 

Powell    65 

Precipitate  will.  The   92,  163,  235 

Precocity    15,  73,  84,  157,  233 

Recapitulation   49,  51,  53,  57ff,  69fr,  144,  246 

Religion   in  boy   life    ..106,  156,  159,  191,  194,  227, 

241-75,  303 

Religion  in  the  home   281,  302 

Religion  in  young  manhood  178,  266  flF 

Renan    250 

Ritual  and  the  spectacular  177,  180-3 

Roosevelt    195 

Rudimentary  society  among  boys  119-45 

Savage,  The  boy  and  the   46ff,  80fiP 

School  discipline   109 

Scott    26,  28,  109,  216,  218,  224,  226 

Secrecy    79,  177,  179 

Self-control   100,  154,  208,  224 

Self-government    23,  118,  143,  145,  160,  1659', 

168,  198-9,  202,  205-19 
Self-reliance    103,  156,  200,  203,  228 


310  INDEX 

Self-respect    290 

Seton 229 

Sex  life   74,  188,  241,  238 

Sheldon    115,  117 

Social  adjustment  at  home   101,  285,  301 

Social  development     26flP,  173ff 

Social  gospel,    The    273-4 

Social  impulse,  The  Ill,  173,  188,  191 

Social  organization    107ff,  161,  182,  189 

Social  radius.  The  law  of  the 173,  176,  233,  259 

Societies  among  boys   107fF,  119,  160ff,  169ff 

Starbuck   300 

Temptation    105,  224,  284 

Trust    , 290 

Van  Liew 60,  208 

Vocational  interests    77,  153 

Wallace    123,  134 

Will  achievement.  Stages  of    100,  174,  208,  223 

Will  allegiance  of  boys  154ff,  159 

Will  crisis,  The   87ff,  284 

Will  development.  Principles  of   97-9,  297 

Woodcraft  Indians    163,  229 

Work   94,  99 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  The 35,  81, 

104,  158,  193-203,  273,  277,  286,  294 


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